' LIBRARY OF CONGRESs/ 



i* 



Chap. „ £r.^.^.4:.... 



i 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




■//. ■ //. /'.////////.. 



MEMORIAL ADDPvESSES 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



Matthew 

(A SENATOR FKOM WISCONSIN), 



P.PA 



RPENTER 



UEI.IVl'.nEU IN TIIK 



SENATE AND HOUSE OF EEPEESENTATrV^ES, 



60 , c, 



FOKTT-SEVENTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION, 



January 26, 1882, 



THE PROCEEDINGS CONNECTED WITH THE 
FUNERAL OF THE DECEASED. 




WASHINGTON: (l\,' 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1882. 



i- 



JOINT RESOLUTION to print certain enlogics delivered in Congress npon the late Fer- 
nando Wood, Matt. H. Carpenter, and Ambrose E. Barnside. 

liesoU-ed hi/ the Senate and House of Rejn-escntatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assemhled, That there be printed twelve tliousaud copies 
respectively of tlie eulogies delivered in Congress upon the late Fernanilo 
Wood, a Representative from the State of New York ; Matt. H. Carpenter, a 
Senator from the State of Wisconsin, and Ambrose E. Buruside, a Senator 
from the State of Rhode Island, of each of which four thousand shall be for 
the Senate and eight thousand for the use of the House of Jlepresentatives ; 
and the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, directed to have 
printed portraits of the three above named Messrs. Wood, Carpenter, and 
Burnside to accompany their respective eulogies; and for the purpose of 
defraying the exijense of engraving and printing the said portraits the sum 
of fifteen humlred dollars, or so luuch thereof as may be necessary, be, and 
the same is hereby, appropriated out of any monej' iu the Treasiirj- not other- 
wise appropriated. 

Approved February 15, 1882. 
3 



ANNOUNCEMENT 



DEATH OF Matthew H. Carpenter, 



A SENATOR FROM WISCONSIN. 



IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 
Tuesday, February 24, 1881. 



The Chaplain, Rev. J. J. Bui.i.ocK, D. J)., offered tlie following 

PRAYER : 

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we adore Thee as the King 
eternal, immortal, and invisible, in whom we live and move and 
have our being, upon whom we are dependent for life and for all 
its blessings, and to whom wo are responsible for all that we do. 

We thank Thee, O God, for Thy great goodnei5s and mercy to 
us, especially for Thy preservation of us during the past night, and 
for the light and blessings of this new day. We commit ourselves 
to Thy guidance and protection. Preserve us from all evil, and be- 
stow upon us every needed blessing. 

Bless, we beseech Thee, our beloved country ; defend and deliver 
us from the dangers to M'hich we are exposed, from ignorance and 
superstition, from infidelity and licentiousness. May we long be a 
united and happy people, a people who fear God and love righteous- 
ness. Bless, we pray Thee, our rulers, the President, the Vice- 
President, the Senators and Representatives in Congress, and all 
who arc in authority. May they rule in the fear of God and for 
the good of the people. 

3 



4 LIFE JXD CnARACTEH OF MATTHEW n. CAIirEXTEI!. 

Most merciful God, it hatli jilcascd Thee in Tliine inscrutable 
providence to remove by the hand of death one of the members of 
this body from the ^cene of his labors here; and now we pray that 
Thou wouldst look in tender compassion upon his bereaved family; 
comfort and sustain them in this hour of tlieir sore trial, and wilt 
Thou enable those of us who remain to make a suitable improve- 
ment of this solemn dispensation of Thy providence. May we be 
sensibly reminded of the shortness and uncertainty of life and of 
the importance of being ever prepared for our departure, for we 
know neither the day nor the hour when we shall be called iicnce. 

We commit ourselves and all that are dear to us to Thy Fatherly 
care. Be with us in all the trials and changes of life, and prepare 
us for the last sad change that awaits us upon earth, and finally re- 
ceive us into Thy Kingdom above ; we ask for Christ our Redeem- 
er's sake. Amen. 



Mr. CAMERON, of Wisconsin. I rise, Mr. President, to an- 
nounce to the Senate the death of my late colleague, Matthew H. 
Caepenter. j\Ir. Carpenter died at the residence of his family, 
in this city, at twenty-five minutes after nine o'clock this morning. 

At some convenient time hereafter the Senate will be asked to 
consider resolutions commemorative of his life and public services. 
Before oifering the resolutions which I hold in my hand, I desire 
to express the sorrow that I feel personally at the deatii of my col- 
league and friend. I desire also to express in some slight degree 
the profound sorrow that the people of Wisconsin will feel at the 
death of their most gifted and distinguished representative. 

I offer, sir, tlie following resolutions: 

Hcsoh-ci!, That the Sciiatf has heaicl wifli iirofuiiud sorrow of the death of 
Hon. Matthew H. Carpentee, late a Senator from the State of Wiseousin. 

Hesolrcd, That a couiraittee of five Senators be appoiuted Ijy the Vice-Presi- 
dent to tifke order for superintending the funeral of Mr. CARPENTER; and 



PROCEEDIXGS IN THE SENATE. 5 

that as a mark of respect entertained by the S(!nate for liis niouKiry, his re- 
mains be removed from Washington to Milwankee, Wisconsin, in <!liarge of 
the Sergeant-at-Arms and attended by said committee, who shall have full 
power to curry this resolnliou into effect. 

lifinhvd, That the Secretary of the Senate communicate the foregoinj; reso- 
lutions to the House of Representatives. 

Resolved, That, as an additional mark of respect to the memory of Mr. Cau- 
ri'.XTKR, the Senate do now adjourn. 

Mr. PENDLETON. Mr. Pre.sident, I am sure that evorv mem- 
ber of tlie Senate lia.s received with deep .sensibility tlic notice tlmt 
is given to us of the deatli of Mr. Carpenter, and tliat etich one 
shares very deeply and very largely iu the sentiment of sorrow ex- 
pressed by his colleague. I therefore second the resolutions. 

The Vice-President appointed as the committee on the ))art of 
the Senate under the resolution of th(; 24th instant, for superin- 
tending the funeral of the late Senator Matthew H. Carpenter, 
Mr. Cameron, of Wisconsin, Mr. Conkling, Mr. Logan, Mr. Pen- 
dleton, and Mr. Cockrell. 

The resolutions were agreed to unanimously; and (at eleven 
o'clock and sixteen minutes a. m.) the Senate adjourned. 



ADDRESSES 



Death of Matthew H. Carpenter, 



A SENATOE FEOM WISCONSIN. 



DELIVEKED IN THE .SENATE, 
H'ednesday, January 25, 188:i. 



Mr. CAMERON, of Wisconsin. Mr. President, pursuant to 
notice heretofore given by nie, I offer tlic resolntions wiiich T send 
to the Secretary's desk. I ask that they be read and considered 
at this time. 

The PRESIDENT ^>/-o tempore. The resolutions will be read. 

The Acting Secretary read as follows : 

Hcsvlfdl, That the Senate baa licard with inolVmiid sorrow of the death of 
Hon. Mattiikw H. CaiU'ENTKi:, hito a Senator from the State of Wiscousiii, 
aiul extends to his alllicted family sincere sympathy and condolence in their 
bereavement. 

Itesolrcd, That, as an additional mark of respect to the memory of Mr. Car- 
I'ESTKU, tlie regular husiness of the Senate bo now suspended in order that 
his former as.sociates in this body may pay fitting tribute to his memory. 

licaolved, That the Secretary of the Senate be directed to transmit to the 
family of the deceased, and also to the Governor of Wisconsin, a certified 
copy of these resolntions, with a statement of (he action of the Senate 
thereon. 

I!esoh-cd, That the Secretary of the Senate communicate these resolutions 
to the House of IJepresentatives. 

licsolved, That, as a further testimonial of respect to the memory of the 
decea.sed Senator, the Senate do imw adjourn. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Saulsbnry in tiie <'hair). 
The resolutions are before the Senate. 

7 



LIFK ASD CUAUACTER OF ilAITUEW 11. CAIU'EyTEIl. 



Address of Mr. Cameron, of \A/isconsin. 

]\Ir. President: To-day Wisconsin asks the Senate to lay aside 
its Calendar and unite with her in paying a last sad tribute of re- 
sijcct to the memory of INIatthew H. Carpenter. 

Mr. Carpenter, by his character and public services, had en- 
deared himself to the people of Wisconsin. When he died every 
citizen of the State felt that he had suffered a personal bereave- 
ment. This feeling found expression in a great popular demon- 
stration at his funeral, in resolutions adopted by the legislature, in 
meetings of the bar, and in the unanimous voice of the press. 

My remarks upon the resolutions now under consideration will 
be mainly biographic. 

Mr. Carpenter was born at Moretown, Washington County, 
Vermont, on the 22d day of December, 1824, and died in the city 
of Washington on the 24th day of February, 1881. 

He was christened by his parents "Decatur Merritt Hammond," 
and was commonly called "Merritt" Carpenter until subsequent to 
his removal to Wisconsin. In 1851, after he had argued a cause 
in court with extraordinary learning and ability, one of his associ- 
ates at the bar enthusiastically declared that the argument was 
worthy of Sir Matthew Hale, and that its author ought no longer 
to be called " Merritt " Carpenter, but should be named " Mattliew 
Hale " Carpenter. This declaration struck the imagination of the 
lawyers present, and thereafter they called their eloquent young 
associate " Matthew Hale." So generally was the name of "Mat- 
thew Hale " applied to him that he was actually constrained to 
adopt it, and thus "Decatur Merritt Hammond" Carpentpr, of 
Vermont, became "Matthew Hale" Carpenter, of Wisconsin. 

Fifty years ago Paul Dillingham, now one of the venerable ex- 
governors of Vermont, was an influential citizen and a leading 



* ADDIti:S.<l OF Mil. CAMERON, OF ll'ISCOXShV. d 

lawyer i)f tli:\t Stiite. He resided at Watcrbury, Wasliington 
County, and was an acquaintance and friond of the Carpenter 
family. Mr. Dillingham saw young Mkrritt Carpenter when 
he was about tlirce yeai"s of age, and was greatly attracted by the 
exti-aordinaiy physical beauty and the precocious mental develop- 
ment of the boy. It may be that the a.stute lawyer discovered in 
the boy of three years of age the germ of the great orator and jurist 
that he subsequently became. However this may be, Mr. Dilling- 
ham said to Mrs. Carpenter: "Send your sou to me when he is 
fourteen years of age and I will make a lawyer of In'm." 

When Merritt was five yeai-s of age he began attending the dis- 
trict school in his native village. So great was his mental quick- 
ness that he learned the tasks imposed upon him with little effort 
or study. His temperament wa.s active and joyous. He was the 
leader in all boyish sports. His mother had not forgotten the 
promise of Mr. Dillingham to make a lawyer of her son. She was 
proud of her bright and handsome boy. She aided him in his 
studies and urged him to prepare himself for the career which she 
believed would open to him through the kind offices of Mr. Dil- 
lingham. 

In Decemljor, 1838, when INIerritt was iburtecn yciU's oi' age, he 
one day returned from school and informed his father (hat he had had 
some trouble with the schoolmaster; that the cause of theditliculty 
was the fact that he knew more than his teacher, but the result wa.s 
that he had been turned out of school. He further stated that he 
had determined to go to Watcrbury the next morning for the pur- 
pose of entering Mr. Dillingham's office as a law student. 

Tiio father, knowing well tlie positive and self-reliant character 
of his son, interposed no objection. On the next morning, in the 
midst of a Vermont winter, alone and on foot, l)ut with cheerful 
confidence, he went to Waterl^ury, entered Mr. Dillingham's office, 
stated that he was fourteen years of age and ha<l come to study 



10 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF ilATTUEW H. CARPENTER. 

law. j\Ir. Dillingham was pleased \\itli the manly beivriug and 
address of the boy. He not only admitted him to his ofBce as a 
student, but received him in his house as a member of his family. 

Mr. Carpenter continued in Mr. Dillingham's office until 
1843, when he was selected as a cadet to the Military Academy at 
West Point. He passed the required examination, and entered 
the Academy. In 1845 he resigned his cadetship and resumed 
his legal studies. 

It has been erroneously stated iu the newspapers since Mr. Car- 
penter's death that his resignation was in consequence of ill- 
health. He was never able, even while a cadet at West Point, to 
divest himself of the. idea implauted in his youthful mind by his 
mother, that he was destined to be a lawyer. He resigned, not in 
consequence of ill-health, but in order that he might resume his 
legal studies. He pursued the study of the law with great indus- 
try from 1843 to 1847, when he was admitted to the courts of 
Vermont. 

While a law student iu Vermont he heard much about the learn- 
ing and eloquence of Eufus Choate; and upon his admission to the 
Vermont bar he determined to go to Boston and, if possible, to 
become a student of that great lawyer. Accordingly, in 1847, at 
the age of twenty-three, with an abundance of hope and enthusi- 
asm, but M'ith only a few dollars iu his pocket, he went to Boston. 

He had never seen Mr. Choate, nor had he any letter of intro- 
duction to him. He ascertained the location of his office by con- 
sulting the city directory. On the morning after his arrival he 
called at Mr. Choate's office and learned that he was engaged in 
court, but could be seen at his chambers at a certain hour after 
court had adjourned for the day. At the hour named Mr. Car- 
penter presented himself and was shown into INIr. Choate's pri- 
vate room. He stated briefly who he was, where he came from, 
and what he wanted. So favoraljlo an impression did he make 



JDDHESS OF Mli. CAMEIiOX, OF WISCONSIN. 11 

ii[M)U Mr. Choate that he at ouce received him as a student. Before 
Mr. Choate went to court the next morning, perhaps for tlic jnir- 
pose of testing the training and mental capacity of iiis new stu- 
dent, he handed him a letter from a country hiwycr aslving his 
opinion upon a case stated. Mr. Cakpenter even tlicn possessetl 
extraordinary powers for rapid and exhaustive legal research. He 
worked diligently on the case, and wlien ]\Ir. Choate returned in 
the evening handed to him the result of his examination in the 
shape of a carefully prepared opinion. Mr. Choate read the opin- 
ion, and, without changing a word, said : " I guess I can sign ' R. 
Choate' to that, and ask my correspondent to send me a hundred 
dollars," which he acjordingly did. 

Mr. Carpenter remained in Mr. Choate's office for upward of 
a year. He was then admitted t-o the Massachusetts courts, and in 
1848 removed to Beloit, Wisconsin. He took his law library with 
him, which consisted only of the Massachusetts Reports and a few 
elementary books. Soon after he went to Wisconsin he was at- 
tacked with a painful and dangerous disease of the eyes. He went 
to New York for treatment, and remained there until September, 
1850, when he returned to Beloit, and formed a partnership with 
Mr. Cheeney, then a leading lawyer at that bar. This partnership) 
was not dissolved until the spring of 1856, when Mr. Cheeney 
retired from practice. 

Mr. Carpenter was district attorney of Rock County for one 
term of two years, commencing January, 1856. He never held 
any other office until he was elected to the Senate of the United 
States in January, 1869. Before 1856 he had acquired a local 
reputation as an industrious, painstakin_g, eloquent, and able young 
lawyer. He firet gained a State reputation by his argument in the 
quo warranto ca.sc against Governor Barstow. This w:is a remark- 
able case. Barstow had been governor for two years, and was the 
Democratic candidate for re-election. He w;ts "counted in" by 



12 LIVE AXJ) CHARACTICI! of MATTHEW II. CARPESTEIi. 

the Democratic board of State canvassers, and was inaugurated 
with great pomp and an unusual display of military force. 

Bashford, the Republican candidate, claimed that a majority of 
votes had been cast for him, and that the "supplemental returns" 
upon which Barstow had been "counted in" M'cre fi'auduleut. The 
action brought by Bashford, the Republican claimant, to get pos- 
session of the office of governor was the first instance in American 
history where the people of a State resorted to the courts to dispos- 
sess a de Jacto governor in the actual possession of the executive 
office. The interest taken by the people of Wisconsin in the case 
corresponded with the gravity of the principles and the magnitude 
of the results involved. The late Chief-Justice Ryan, James H. 
Knowlton, and Timothy O. Howe were counsel for Bashford, the 
relator. Jonathan E. Arnold, Harlow S. Orton, and Mr. Car- 
penter were counsel for Barstow, the respondent. It has been 
lately said that Mr. Carpenter was the leading counsel for Bar- 
.stow. That distinction must, however, be accorded to Mr. Arnold, 
who then stood at the head of the Wisconsin bar. Mr. Carpen- 
ter was Barstow's junior counsel. He made only one argument 
in the case. This argument was read from manuscript. It was 
learned, plausiljle, and ingenious. It failed to convince the oourt, 
but it placed its author in the front rank of Wisconsin lawyers. 

Mr. Carpenter's early political affiliations were with the Dem- 
ocratic party. He adhered to that party long after he became a 
resident of Wisconsin. He supported Pierce in 1852, and Bu- 
chanan in 1856. He was an ardent and enthusiastic friend and 
supporter of Douglas in 18G0. After the war began, in 1861, 
although still claiming to Ije a Democrat, he gave a hearty support 
to Mr. Lincoln's administration. 

In September, 1862, the Democratic j^arty of Wisconsin held a 
State convention and adopted an address, famous in the political 
history of that State, known as tiie "Ryan address." 



jDimicss or mu. cameuox, df iriscoxsix. 13 

A numerous and influential faction of tlie Democratic party, then 
calletl Wiw Democrats, took ground against tlu; doctrines of this 
address. In 1863 Mr. Carpenter united with other leading 
Democrats in a call for a mass convention of War Democrats. The 
convention was held at Janesville, and was largely attended. Mr. 
Carpenter was the leading spirit, and made the principal speech. 
An address to the Democrats of the State was adopted, urging 
them to support the administration of Mr. Lincoln in all its efforts 
for the suppression of the rebellion, and advising a union of all 
citizens in favor of " conquering a peace," without regard to pre- 
vious political associations. 

The Republican State conveutiou was held soon afterward, and 
responded to the recommendations of the Janesville address by 
nominating a Union ticket, composed of Re2)ublicans and War 
Democrats. 

The canvass that followed was very earnest and spirited. Mr. 
Carpenter actively {)articipatod in it. The Union ticket was 
elected by an overwhelming majority. 

From the day that Fort Sumter was fired upon until the sur- 
render at Appomattox Mr. Carpenter with voice and pen gave 
earnest support to the Union cause. No other man did more, 
perhaps no other man did as much as he, to rouse and intensify the 
Union sentiment and the military spirit of the people of \\'iseon- 
sin. Illustrative of his power and influence, I will venture to 
relate an incident: 

At one time during the war quite a large number of the foreign- 
born citizens of the State residing in one of the interior counties, in 
consequence of drafts and taxes, became discoui-aged with tlu; pros- 
pects of the country, and after consultation aniong themselves de- 
termined to return to Europe. At this juncture JNIr. Carpenter 
was sent for. lie went where those dissatisfied and discouraged 
men had met together. He mountetl a dry-goods l)iix in the street, 



14 LIFE AXn CHARACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

ami for two liours addressed the people there a-ssemblcd. For a 
few moments after his remarkable speech was concluded profound 
stillness, like that wiiicli immediately precedes the tornado or the 
earthquake, prevailed. Then a great shout was heard, and the men 
who had determined to abandon their adopted country in its hour 
of darkness and peril, swayed by Mr. Carpenter's eloquence, at 
once enlisted in the military service and thereafter fought the 
battles of the Union with zeal and fidelity. 

For some years after the war Mr. Carpenter kept out of poli- 
tics and devoted himself with great industry to his large and 
rapidly-increasing law practice. 

A banquet was given to General Sherman at Janesville in 1866. 
Mr. Carpenter was one of the guests, and responded to a toast 
which involved the Republican plan for reconstructing the States 
then lately in insurrection. His speech was strong, eloquent, ^vitty, 
profound, and statesmanlike. In this speech he took advanced 
wround on mauv of the political questions that had arisen out of 
the war, and made an especially able argument in favor of confer- 
ring the right of suffrage upon the then lately enfranchised race. 
He declared with much emphasis that the newly-acquired rights of 
the freedmeu could be preserved only by placing the ballot in 
their iiands. 

]\Ir. Carpenter was a Ijrilliant advocate. He was more than 
this. He was a profound and learned lawyer. His learning was 
not confined to one branch of the law. He was equally ready and 
(Miually admirable in every branch. His industry was extraordi- 
nary and his capacity for laljor was really phenomenal. 

He became a member of the Senate on the 4th of March, 1869. 
Here he served no period of pupilage. One the 17th of IMarch, 
only thirteen days after the commencement of his term, he made 
an able and elaborate speech on the bill to repeal the civil-tenure 
act. He was prominent in all tlic great debates during liis eiglit 



J DDK ESS l>F MI!. CAMEROX. OF inSCOXSIX. 15 

years of service in tlic Senate. He defended his own convictions 
with earnestness and firmness, but no bitterness was ever mingled 
with his logic or his eloquence. He possessed such real good natui'e 
and such geduine kindness that he could overthrow and vanquisli 
an opponent without lc;iving a sting behind. 

Al)out a year before his deatli he was advised by his physicians 
that he would probably die within a few months. He then care- 
fully studied his disea.se, and satisfied himself that the opinion given 
by Ills physicians was correct. With tlie black shadow of death 
hanging over him, he continued faithfully, and even with cheerful- 
ness, to do his work. His obligations to his numerous clients were 
carefully and conscientiously performed, while no duty in the 
Senate was neglected. 

By section 1814 of the Revised Statutes, the President is author- 
ized to invite all the States to provide and furnish statues, in 
marble or bronze, not exceeding two in number for each State, of 
deceased pereons who have been citizens thereof and illustrious for 
their hLstoric renown, or for distinguished civic or military serv- 
ices, such as each State may deem to be worthy of this national 
commemoration; and when so fui-nished the same shall be placed 
in the old Hall of the House of Representatives. 

Maine has sent William King; Massachusetts has sent John 
Winthrop and Samuel Adams; Vermont hits contributed Ethan 
Allen and Jacob Collamcr; Rhode Island has sent Roger Williams 
and Nathanial Greene; Connecticut, Jonathan Trumbull and Roger 
Sherman ; New York, Robert R. Livingston and George Clinton ; 
Virginia, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson; and the 
statue of the eloquent and gallant Edward D. Baker was con- 
tributed to this "noble galaxy" by a far-off State whose shores 
are laved by the waves of the Pacific sea. 

I trust that Wisconsin, in her own good time, will contribute 
a statue in enduring bronze or niarlile of our departed friend, 



16 rjrK .1X1) cir.inArTKn of mattiikw n. cAKmyTEn. 

Matthew- Hale Carpentee, ami that the same will he placetl 
ill that nol)le and historic Hall, which in the "brave days of old" 
resounded with the glowing eloquence of Clay, the ponderous 
arguments of Webster, the acute and subtle logic of Calhoun, and 
the gorgeous rhetoric of Choate. 



Address of Mr. Garland, of Arkansas. 

Nearly a year has elapsed, Mr. President, since the clear, ring- 
ing voice and the charming language of Mr. Carpentee were 
heard in this Chamber ; yet those of us who were associated with 
him here have not become used to his absence. We cannot even 
now fully realize that his name has passed from the roll of living, 
acting men, as gently and noiselessly as the sunlight departs from 
the hills. Indeed, for so long a time before he was struck down did 
he fill such a place in the public view, the chasm his death created 
is not soon to close or soon to be filled. 

It is now not quite seventeen years since I first met Mr. Cab- 
PENTER, then young, joyful, buoyant, just beginning to rise before 
the popular gaze. He was then the very pictiu-e of health and 
bodily vigor, and gave more promise of a long life than any of the 
large crowd assembled in the Supreme Court room, where he was. 
It was then he argued before that court the Lawyers' test-oath case, 
reported in the fourth volume of Wallace's Reports. That argu- 
ment brought him fresh praise from all quarters and new laurels as 
well. From that time till his death, a short period indeed, his 
course was onward and upward; and yet a youug man, he had won 
the triumphs that usually belong to much older ones, and in truth 
his career of honor closed when most men who achieve fame begiu. 
While he was looking into the red of the morning the evening had 
grown around him, and the night came and gathered him in its folds. 



JDDIiESS OF Mli. GAItLAXD, OF ARKANSAS. 17 

From the time I have referred to till he turned liis pale iacc to 
the wall there was between him and myself a sincere friendship, 
and in more than one instance did he certify to that in substantial 
and valualjle acts, and on more than one oa'asion ditl he serve in 
her troul)les the State that honors me with a seat here, and the peo- 
ple of that State have a kind and tender rcmembranee of ISIr. Cak- 
PENTER, which will not be dimmed with the coming and going of 
the years. 

Mr. Carpenter was usually called a bright, a brilliant man ; he 
was that, and more than that. With talent, with genius, he did 
not rely solely upon them, but he went back and gathered up the 
thouglits of the masters of the past, and these he read by day and 
studied by night, and stopped not short of the very fountains to 
drink of knowledge. While he was quick and brigiit, he was also 
cultivatotl, solid, and logicid, and the weapons with which he was 
equij)ped for the battle of life were sharp and strong and of ethe- 
real temper, and with them he won a fame that will sliine like a 
star above his grave. As Cicero said of Mucins Scsevola, so it may 
be said of Mr. Carpexter — he wa.s the most eloquent among 
lawyers, and the best lawyer among men of eloquence. 

The truth is, the demands in his profession and in public affairs 
upon Mr. Carpenter's time and energies burdened him beyond 
endurance, and he sank beneath their exactions. But amid all these, 
when the enemy was approaching and it was certain his hand would 
not be stayed, he bore up with that genuine good humor and flow 
of spirits that characterized him in health, with no complaints, no 
murmurs. Kind and genial, I tx;lieve he was the enemy of no one. 
He was devoted to duty, whatever that was and wherever it called 
him; and no one who witnessed his struggles against the inevitable 
in meeting the demands of duty could but be reminded of the 
Japanese fable, where the beautiful night moth sends those moths 
enamored of her to bring her fire till they lail victims to the flames. 
2 c 



18 LIbE A\D VHAUACTEll OF MATTHEW II. VARPEJSITER. 

In cursory I'cading some little while ago, Mr. President, I found a 
short sentence, said to have been his production, which gives forth in 
plaintive language his view of this thing we call life. I will read it : 

The loves and friendships of iudividuals jiartaliing of the frail cliaracter of 
human life may be shortly summed up : A little loving and a good deal of sor- 
rowing ; some bright hopes and many bitter disappointments; some gorgeous 
Thursdays, when the skies are briglit and the heavens blue, when Provideneo, 
boudiug over us in blessing, glads the heart almost to madness ; many dismal 
Fridays, when the smoke of torment beclouds the mind and undying sorrows 
gnaw upon the heart ; some high ambitions and many Waterloo defeats, imtil 
the heart becomes like a charnel-house, filled with dead aft'ections, embalmed 
in holy bnt sorrowful memories; and then the cord is loosened, the golden 
bowl is broken, the individual life — a cloud, a vapor — passeth away. 

Probably this was the inspiration of one of those moments of 
sadness that at times come to us all. But it is a faithful summary 
at last. He had seen and felt all that he said. Still his life, with 
its share of trials and crosses, was a success and is full of good ex- 
ample, stimulating lessons, and noble encouragement to the young 
men of the land. Born and reared with no wealth, with no pre- 
vious family name or prestige to rest upon, alone with his own great 
mind and energies, he arose from the very groundwork of society, 
and became one of the wonderful men of this wonderful age and 
of this wonderful country. 

It is needless for me to speak of his public services. The Senator 
who has just spoken, once his colleague on this floor, has given 
them to us well and aptly. They are of record all round and about 
us and are now a part of the nation's valued property. His loss 
to his country is great, to his friends and family beyond estimate, 
but to all let the hope come tliat the tear-drop of sorrow that is 
shed to-day will be caught up and made to glow and sjiarkle in the 
i-ainbow of promise of to-morrow, without which hope life's bur- 
dens and charges would lie unbearable. And let friends and fam- 
ily all know that his name and fame will be trea.sured tenderly in 
tiie land and "that his memorial shall not depart away." 



ADDUKSf! or Ml!. LOCLX, III' ILLIXOIS. 19 



Address of Mr. Logan, of Illinois. 

Mr. President: It i.s with no ordinary feeling of saduc.s.s that 
I rise to say a few words in reference to the cliaracter and memory 
of our deceased friend and former associate in the Senate, Mat- 
thew H. Carpenter. Others who hav<; preceded me liave given 
tlie date of his birth, early ediuuition, and exeperience in early life. 
Sir, his nobleness of character and greater tenderness of heart made 
him beloved by all who knew him well. Frank and ('ordial in his 
greetings to all, he Wiis ever ready to extend a helping hand to 
those in need. The last time he was out of his home was to a.sk 
that an unfortunate friend be given employment. He had been 
very ill, but was convalescing when this person appealed to him 
to make the effort iu his behalf. Mastering by his great will 
power tlie physical weakness of the hour, he ordered his carriage, 
and by the assistance of a servant entered it and drove to a dej)art- 
ment in this city, sought the chief, and earTiestly presented his 
friend's cause, and, as one can imagine, was successful ; returning 
home much exhaasted, he took his bed never to ri.se a'j;ain. 

Sir, I wish I had the power to properly portray the loss our 
country must feel in the d(;ath of our brother Senator, but I 
have not. 

I am a\\are, however, sir, that in speaking of the dead who have 
long been closely associated with us in life we are naturally inclined 
to r^'fer only to the brighter characteristics of their lives, and to 
extol their talenrs and virtues, showing that our better natures are 
touched by the grief and sad bereavement of others, and that the 
envy and jealousies of human nature are lost in tears of sorrow. 

The ordinary duties of public life have a tendency to draw our 
attention to the racn^enary side of hunuiu character, and but seldom 
lead us to look upon tlie brighter, nobler, and gn^ater traits of 



20 LIFE AND CHAEACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

man's nature, so that except on ooi-asions of this kind (when the 
tender chords of the heart are touelied) docs the maid turn back 
over the pathway of the life of others to gather up the flowers 
strewu along it, that they may be presented as mementoes to the 
nation and friends; but with our hearts touched and softened we 
are led for a thue to study the better part of human character, and 
forget the trivial things that are apt to be the more considered in 
our daily intercourse with eacih other. Man is not perfect. The 
deceased brother of whom we spaak to-day was but a man. He 
like others may have made mistakes, but, sir, they were of such in- 
significance that soon they will be lost to memory; while on the 
other hand the nobler and better points of his character were many, 
and well marked, and of a nature to impress themselves vividly 
upon the minds of all who were intimately acquainted with him. 
He was a gentle and kind husband and a most generous and indul- 
gent father ; his home bore tiie impress of these virtues, and now 
by its silent gloom gives out the deep affliction of his once bright 
and happy family, as before mentioned. 

One of the well-marked characteristics of the deceased was his 
generosity aud kindness. This he showed in many ways and on 
all occasions. A beautiful compliment Avas once paid to a Senator, 
which was that "the consciousness of having unintentionally used 
a discourteous expression would bring a blush to his face." It 
might with equal propriety be said of Senator Caepenter, that 
the consciousness of having wounded the feelings of a brother 
Senator would have given a much deeper wound to his own heart. 
As a debater in the Senate on important questions he but seldom 
found his equal. He reached his conclusions by careful and 
thorough investigation. His convictions reached Avere clear on sub- 
jects often more or less clouded with doubt in the minds of others. 
He never left the investigation of a question without having a 
decided "yes" or "no" to give in reply. This was doubtless due 



AODRliSS OF Mil. LOGAN, OF ITA.IXOIS. 21 

iu a great measure to his long training in llic discussion of difficult 
and compliciited legal questions, where a decided position was necas- 
sary to success. His method seemed to have been to lix ii[)(m what 
he eonceiveti to be the one strong point in tiie case, and then to 
turn upon it all the light afforded by authorities and logical reason- 
ing. ^\.ll who have heard him will bear witness to his clear rea- 
soning on all questions which he debated. No matter how difficult 
and complicated the question might be, his own views were so clear 
and distinctly set forth that the most unlearned listener was enabled 
to comprehend his position and reasoning. His great strength as a 
debater consisted mainly in his logic, whicli was precise, almost 
mathematical, in its demonstrations; but when he did resort to 
irony or ridicule, it Wius terrible in its effect. The only way to 
meet the effect of one of his arguments was to attaciv his premises. 
When once he ha<l his line of argument he followed step by step to 
the logical conclusion, no matter how ultra or startling the conclu- 
sion might be. 

His appearance on the floor and his voice were in exact accord 
witii the mental characteristics mentioned. The expression of his 
countenance, his tones in speaking, even liis very attitude, beto- 
kened a fe(>ling of confidence that favorably impressed his hearers 
and riveted their attention. His words came forth wrth such clear 
and ringing sound that every syllable would be distinctly heard 
and understood. Not only did the mouth speak, J)ut the whole 
man seemed to take a part in giving utterance to his views. Yet 
he spoke with an ease and gracefulness that was peculiarly his own. 
Usually feeling too confinetl in the narrow space of his seat, it was 
his custom to step into the aisle that he might the better give free 
expression to his thoughts. 

His method of tliought and mode of reasoning, as a natural con- 
sequence, hail a tendency to carry him to {\w extreme puiiit in the 
direction his convic^tions led him on all liu' (pic.stions of tiic day. 



22 LIFE AXD CHARACTER OF ilATTHEW U. CARPENTER. 

His position, therefore, on important measures and problems was 
always radical, and it may be truly said of him that he never gave 
an "uncertain sound" in expressing them. Whatever may be 
thought of the views he maintained on any of the political issues of 
his day, all must admit that they were distinctly stated, clearly 
understood, and maufully and ably advociited. 

Although exceedingly jealous of the honor of his government, 
yet even on questions where this was involved he applied the same 
rigidly logical method of reaching a decision as to the justice of the 
case, and allowed no other consideration to swerve him from his 
course. 

Mr. Caepexter was beyond question one of the great orators 
of his day. 

When the liistory of the present age is written it will undoubt- 
edly pronounce Mr. Carpenter as one of the great men of his 
time — ^great in legal ability, great as an orator, and great as a de- 
bater, and also as having occupied a high position- as a statesman. 
And when it reaches the page where his death must be recorded, it 
will be with a deep sigh of regi*et that the nation should have been 
deprived of the services of one so able while yet in the strength 
and vigor of manhood. 

In his personal intercourse he was always kind and aftable, list- 
ening with the same patience and attention to the humblest citizen 
as to the most influential. Naturally of jovial and pleasant dispo- 
sition, he was extremely fond of laying aside for a time the cares 
of his public position and entering into free and social intercourse; 
but even here he seemed most delighted when the conversation par- 
took of that character indicating an elevated range of thought. 

As a lawyer he was a profound thinker and brilliant advocate ; 
he was a great student and a very laborions man; his mind was a 
vast storehouse of legal lore. If equaled, certainly not surpassed, 
in that fervent eloquence and clear logic which made him a power 



ADDIiESS OF MR. KELLOGG, OF LOUISIANA. 23 

before auy lej^al tribunal. His life as a lawyer was unsullied in 
everything whicli looks to professional honor. 

But, sir, he is gone from our midst; he is mourned by the bar, 
by the Senate, and by the country; he will be heard no more in 
this Hall; his voice is hashed forever. 

Sir, soon after his death we took his remains to his home in Wis- 
consin and there quietly laid them down in the tomb, where " he 
sleeps the sleep that knows no waking." A mighty throng had 
assembled in Milwaukee to receive the remains; the immense num- 
ber of people who came out stood with bathed checks and sobbiug 
hearts, giving evidence of the great aflfectiou they had for him and 
of the great loss they had sustained in his death ; and well might 
his friends weep and mourn at their own and their nation's loss. 
For, sir, his was a great loss. Mr. President, lessons are constantly 
being t;iught us, by the demise of our friends, that we are traveling 
the same "broad road" to death. 

The tomb is silent and gives forth no warning to the living, but 
there is a still small voice that constantly whispei"s, "A life beyond," 
where a power shall "unseal the thunders" and give " voice to the 
graves." 



Address of Mr. KELLOGG, of Louisiana. 

Mr. President : The death of a distinguishe<l associate in this 
body imparts new emphtusis to the public labors with which his 
talents and energies were identified. A great man is never so great 
as when he passes behind the veil; his silence is elo(pient with the 
remembrance of his past deeds. 

The distinguished Senator whose lamented death now occupies 
the attention of the Senate was so versatile in his attainments and 
in his sympathies, and so many-sided in his character, that it is 
fitting there should be among his former as.sociates who now unite 



24 LlbE AND CHARACTER OF MATTHEW H. CAUPEXTEE. 

in a tribute to liis memory, those representing wide divergeuecs of 
geograpliical lines and grave differences of political opinion. 

It lias often occurred to me since INIr. Carpenter's untimely 
death that the scenes and natural surroundings of his childhood — 
scen&s with whicii I am personally somewhat familiar — may have 
exercised no little influence upon his later career. He was born at 
Aloretown, Vermont, on the side of a mountain, down which and 
past his dwelling rushed a stream called Mad Eiver, ha-stily impa- 
tient of all obstacles, at times swollen with rains or melted snows, a 
torrent resistlessly impetuous in its force, and at other times spark- 
ling in the generous sunlight and filling the pleasant valleys below 
with liquid music. The varied moods of nature in his mountain 
home were reflected in his after life, and gave tone and color to his 
maturer vears. Shadow and sunshine chased eacii other through- 
out his whole career. 

What deeper grief, for instance, could assail an able and ambi- 
tioas young man just entering life than total .blindness, prolonged 
through nearly three dreary years? Yet even through this dark- 
ness rays of sunlight streamed. He had found in that great Mas- 
sachusetts jurist, Eufus Choate, a friend who had seen the capacities 
that were in him, who had poured out Ijefore him his stores of legal 
knowledge, and who stood by him witli Samaritan benevolence 
until, happily, his sight was restored and he was enabled again to 
enter the arena of life. There is no question that this period of 
enforced seclusion and reflection exercised a marked influence on 
Mr. Caepexter's future. 

More fomiliar hands than mine have sicetched the subsequent 
career of the rising young lawyer; how, after migrating to Wiscon- 
sin, his consummate attainments forced him out of the compara- 
tive obscurity of the little town of Beloit, in which he first settled, 
into wider fields of labor. I refer, in passing, to his enthusiastic 
adlicrcncc to Stej)hcn A. Doughus and his theory of " squatter sov- 



ADDIiESS OF MR. KELLOGG, OF LOVISIAN.l. ' 25 

crcignty," ami liis subse(|iient hearty support of the National Gov- 
ernment when it was called upon to determine by force of arms 
M'hether the majority should be coerced by the minority, only as 
instances of that love of freedom which he had brought witli liim 
from his home in the mountains of Vermont. 

Elected to the Senate in one of the most momentous periods of 
the nation's history, it needs no words of mine to recall the services 
that he rendered. They ai'e written in the chronicles of the time. 
He entered the Senate grandly equipped for the discharge of his 
duties. Erudite in law, of mature years and quick perception, and 
with marked abilities for debate, he stepped at once to the front and 
held his ground to the last. It may be that his adroit, self-confident 
power of fence, cultivated by long experience at the bar, sometimes 
tempted him to wic>ld the rapier rather than the saber in defense of 
a public interest. When the maintonauce of republican govern- 
ments established in some of the Southern States, under the acts of 
Congress jiassed subsequent to the war, became the subject of burn- 
ing debate in this body, Senator Carpenter adopted views which 
brought him into sharp antagonism with that other illustrious 
Western Senator, Mr. Morton, of Indiana, who also has been called 
to take his plac£ in the silent halls of death. The memory of that 
contest will be frceh in the minds of many now present. It was a 
struggle of intellectual giants, of consummate skill and dexterity of 
thrust and fence on the one hand, and of mighty force and direct- 
ness of aim on the other. Into the merits of that controversy it is 
not my purpose to enter, nor would it perhaps be decorous for me 
to do so. They have been referred to the arbitrament of Time. 
Xor do I wisli to awaken the echoes of the past further than to say 
that in my belief, founded upon remarks which Mr. Carpenter 
made to his friends in later years, had his life been spared a little 
longer, some opinions which he then urged upon the Senate, with all 
tiic f'orccfid logi(^ of which ho was so great a master, would |)crhaps 



26 LIFE AND CEAUACTElt OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

have been changed, and some couchLsions arrived at on too hastily 
assumed premises would have been modified. 

And if any feeling of resentment may have been indulged within 
his party because of his course at times, it was disavowed long before 
his deatli, and there is no Eepublican, North or South, to-day who 
would not in proud remembrance of his public service lay his hand 
upon the urn of Matthew Hale Carpenter and say, as said 
Brutus, " In this I bury all unkinduess." 

It has been well remarked of him that his mind worked by 
impulse. An illastration of this fact the Senate will perhaps 
pardon me for recalling, even though some of the incidents may 
seem trivial. When one who is held in affectionate remembrance 
has passed beyond mortal ken, even slight reminiscences often have 
value, especially when indicating distinguishing points of character; 
and this particular instance illustrates not only the peculiarity to 
which I have referred, but that marvelous power of memory which 
formed one of Mr. Carpenter's most extraordinary gifts. In the 
summer of 1873 Mr. Carpenter visited New Orleans on the 
invitation of prominent citizens, chiefly his heretofore political 
opponents, to deliver an address upon the political situation. He 
then saw Louisiana with his own eyes for the first time. The 
marvelous fertility of its soil, the beauty of its semi-tropical prod- 
ucts, the absence of the evidences of enterprise and thrift and 
careful husbandry, and the all-engrossing attention bestowed upon 
political broils arrested his attention, and on the impulse which 
these surroundings gave him he made a speech the brilliancy and 
force of which will not soon be forgotten. He spoke extempo- 
raneously for nearly three hours, amidst a scene of great excitement, 
with frecpient interruptions. 

Leading ncwsjinjwrs of Nc\\- Orleans had arranged to lay Iicfore 
their readers a verbatim report of the eloquent Senator's oration, 
and the audience, which packed the largest theater <if the citv, ;is 



ADDRESS OF MI!. KELLOCG, OF LOVISIANA. 27 

well as luindreils of others who had bccu unable to obtain admission, 
looked eagerly for a report of that address. It never aijpeared. 
From a j^artisau stand-point it was not wiiat was either expected 
or desired. The wish of the people generally to read what he had 
said was communicated to Mr. Carpenter, and a stenographer 
was placed at his disposal. With some reluctance he consented to 
attempt to I'eproduce his address. Pacing rapidly the floor of his 
room, pausing every now and then to collect his thoughts and recall 
the surrounding incidents of the occasion, he dictated the s^jeech, as 
he remembered it, interruptions included, and it was published. 
Afterward a transcript of the short-hand notes of his address as 
actually delivei'ed in the first instance was procured, and on a com- 
parison it was found that the two speeches, uttered three days apart, 
and \vithoat the aid of note or memorandum, varied scarcely the 
turn of a sentence or the substitution of a word. 

Of the influence which Senator Carpenter exerted in this 
Senate I need not speak. I believe that not one of his associates 
in this body failed to appreciate his innate and cultivated powers 
more than did he himself. Although afHuent in resources and 
opportunities for their use, he seemed unambitious to achieve great 
distinction in Aiuerican politics. He surprised fame, but never 
ileliberately pursued her. The same restive temper which impelled 
him to abandon the discipline of West Point in two years some- 
what distinguished him in hLs later years, despite the professional 
reputation which he justly won. Notwithstanding the license of 
view permitted to his profe.ssion, and of which he sometimes availed 
himself in this Senate, all who knew him well knew that his instincts 
were Republican at the root. While he may not rank a.s a very 
gre<at statesman, while his Republicanism was a tranrpiil faith rather 
than an iiiipeltious passion, he \\\\\ lie i'ciiii;iiil)cr(;d .as one who 
devoted his great powei-s to tiie public weal, and as an advocate 
whose courage when roused, and whose brilliance, coherence, and 



28 I^lFE JXD CnAUACTEU OF MATTUEIV II. CAlll'ICXTEH. 

strength of argument before Senate, conrt, aud people were tributary 
to honest ends. 

Clioate — the Edmund Burlce, perhaps, of oiur country — predicted 
a brilliant future for his young student, but Mr. Carpenter found, 
as did his distinguished teacher, greater provocations to effort at the 
bar than in legislative halls. Through the work of this and future 
Senates will run threads of national purpose in connection with 
which will be felt the subtle and familiar touch of his unseen hand. 
Had he been permitted to survive the next ten or fifteen years, there 
is little doubt that he would have commanded public attention and 
added to his fame in much greater measure. His views and hopes 
for the future were honorable alike to his country, his head, aud his 
heart. On the eve of battle a great soldier has often drawn upon 
the ground with his sword his plan for the morrow; there are deep 
traces in the memories of some of projects which were dear to his 
heart, but which his arm may never compass now. He was wholly 
unselfish, with every title to the love of his friends, to the respect of 
his political enemies, to the gratitude of many whom he genuinely 
served, and to the pride of his country. The remembrance of the 
breadth of his legal attainments, the brilliancy of his eloquence, 
the exuberance of his wit, his magnetic charm of manner, and the 
generosity of his nature will long survive, and in the Valhalla of. 
the heroic dead who have done valiant deeds in the cause of human 
progress I venture to believe that the name of ]\Iatthew Hale 
Carpenter will hold an honored place. 



Address of Mr. Bayard, of Dela^vare. 

Mr. President: To "weej) with them that weep " is an injunc- 
tion difficult indeed to disobey when the cause of mourning is the 
d(?ath of a man so highly endowed and accomplished as our late 
associate, Mattukw H. Carpenter, of Wisconsin. 



AliDRESS OF AIR. BAYARD, OF DELAWARE. 29 

T( would be useless iteration to attempt portrayal of his career 
and character after the full and interesting history of both, just 
recounted to the Senate. But, responding to (lie request of those 
who held close relations to our deceased friend and l)rother Senator, 
I add my expression of sincere sorrow for his loss, and pay this 
humble tribute to his memory. 

Mr. Carpentkr first became a member of the Senate; on the 
same day I did ; our personal acquaintance was then formed, and 
kindly relations were soon established between us wliicli although 
never of close intimacy continued unbroken until liis death. 

This period since March, 1869, has been fruitful of issues and 
events of the gravest public interest and significance, and their dis- 
cussion in this Chamber has oftentimes been accompanied with nat- 
ural and deep feeling, which found its expression in prolonged, 
earnest, and excited debate. In su(;h times and amid such scenes 
ray person;d knowledge of Mr. Caepentek has been gathered. 

He entered the Senate with high repute as an advocate and jurist, 
and was well equipjied and trained for the duties of his post, so that 
at once and naturally he took rank as an acknowledged leiider in' the 
councils of the party in majority, and the deliberations of the body. 

With but little prior parliamentary experience, his remarkable 
versatility and facility of acquisition exhibited itself in his rapid 
and easy mastery of the rules of the Senate and the duties of its 
presidency, to fill which he was repeatedly chosen by his associates. 

His familiarity with, and ability in discussing, points of constitu- 
tional and statutory law, together with his unrivalled intimacy with 
juilicial decisions, caused his arguments and opinions to be received 
at all times with exceptional and attentive interest. 

The easy flow, the careless grace and persuasiveness of his 
methods and manner of reasoning, his felicity of diction and pleas- 
ant elocution, all combined to win a.ssent, ami render disagreement 
from his propositions a difficult task. 



30 l-IFK AM) CIt.UtACTEIi OF MATTHEW H. CARVENTEU. 

As an orator, lie possessed gifts of a high order, for he was 
always natural, simple, and affecting, free from mannerism and 
vociferation, never posing for effect, nor bedecking his speeches 
with the artificial flowers and tawdry accessories of theatrical prep- 
aration. 

In addition to a M'ide range of sound legal learning he had embel- 
lished his mind with a good acquaintance with belles-lettres, so that 
his speeches were never disfigured by the undraped angularity and 
jDoverty of ornament with which mere law' learning so often marks 
its professors. 

He was never prosy nor tedious, but almost uniformly brilliant, 
foi'cible, and instructive. It was delightful to witness the play of 
his fine faculties and note the ease with which his mind did its 
work. 

Although a close and laborious student, yet in the Senate or the 
forum, "the smell of the lamp" was seldom to be detected in his 
speeches ; and, while the effects of preparation were felt, the appear- 
ance of effort was concealed by the smooth working of his intel- 
lectual machinery. 

Ho was a man of generous and imjjulsive nature, with a fertile 
mind well stocked with ideas, and lavish in their outlay. Warm- 
hearted, open-handed, large-minded, with a certain characteristic 
profusion in his intellectual ex})enditurcs, as if conscious of an 
overflowing reserve that mocked the ailculations of ordinary econ- 
omy, his powers were wonderfully at his command, and in facility 
of thought, and even still more in the expression of his thought, I 
never met his superior. 

His charities were liberal and bestowed without ostentation. 
Gentle-hearted and affectionate, a kindly humor played around his 
utterances and healed tlie wounds so often and heedlessly inflicted 
in the heated and heady currents of debate. 

In this Senate Chamber, the scene of some of his many triumphs, 



ADDRESS (IF MR. BAYARD, OF DFLAIIARFJ. 31 

in tlic presence of those who wore his witnesses, may justly Ijg 
applied to hiiu the tribute of JNIoore to Sheridan : 

Whoso fancy, as bright as the fire-fly's light, 
Played round every object, aud shone while it i)layed; 

Whose wit, in the combat, as gentle as bright. 
Ne'er carried a heart-stain away on its blade. 

IIi3 capacity for labor was great, and it was freely exerted; 
for even while taking an active and imjiortaut part in the I)usi- 
ness of legislation he conducted simidtaneously a leading ])rac- 
tice in tlie higher judicial courts, and to this luisparing and un- 
remitting toil the early termination of his career may largely be 
attributed. 

The strong and peculiar sympathies and intimacies which are the 
outgrowth of coincident opinion and action in party politics, never 
existed between Mr. Carpenter and myself; but our differences 
on such subjects never caused disturbance in our kindly personal 
relations. I found him ever a frank, generous, and courteous op- 
ponent, whose good temper and genial manners rendered the trans- 
action of pul3lic business easy and agreeable. He justly valued 
and jiracticed the ameniti&s of daily life, and was in its full sense a 
lovable and companionable man. 

One of England's chief worthies, her first lay chancellor, Sir 
Thomas More, conspicuously possessed the trait of gentle and merry 
humor throughout an honored life, aud history tells us he exhibited 
it even on the scaffold, to which a merciless tyrant and liis own in- 
tegrity of soul conducted him. The same trait was conspicuous in 
our deceased friend, whose irrepressible wit and indomitable humor 
flashed out even when lie lay racked with extreme suffering, aud 
under tlie shadow of death itself. 

Mr. President, few assemblies attest so foi'cil)ly the shortness 
of human life and the instability of political position as this 
Senate. 



32 LIFE AND CnAn.iCTER OF iTATTHETT IT. CARPENTEE. 

Less than thirteen years ago I- came here, and of those who were 
then my jjarty allies and assoeiates not one remains a member of 
the l)ody to-day; and of those who were then my associates on the 
opposite side of the Chamber there remain to-day but four. 

Tliis reflection is full of sadness, and may not the admonition 
accomjiany it that the short period of our co-operatiou here in the 
service of our country should not be disfigured by unnecessary 
party heat or personal dissension, or rendered less pleasant by a 
lack of mutual and kindly consideration. 

And of all of those \vho have thus come and gone from this 
theatre of our labors and companionship, not one has there been 
more genial, brilliant, and talented than the distinguished advocate 
and orator whose death we so lament, and upon whose life and ser- 
vices the eulogies of to-day are justly pronouuced. 



Address of Mr. Edmunds, of Vermont. 

Mr. Peesident : In one of the most secluded and beautiful of 
the mountain valleys of Vermont Matthew Hale Carpenter 
M-as born in the yeai- 1824. Mad Eiver (so called from the turbu- 
lence of its course) s\vept the valley with its crystal waters, abound- 
ing in trout, and called with its ceaseless voices to the great mount- 
ain peaks and ridges that immediately surrounded the farm house 
of his parents, breaking from this "haunt of ancient peace," alike 
the shock of the winter tempests and the fierceness of the summer 
heats. 

Such M'as his childhood's home. How often did he; doubtless, 
when in the height of his fame and in the midst of the cares, and 
contests, and victories of the world, wistfully look back over the 
receding years, from the State of his adoption or from the chief 



JVDUKSS OF MU. EDilUyOS, OF VEUMOXT. 33 

scat of tlic government of a nation iu which he had a prominent 
part, to tliat fair valley, and yearn for the peace and rest it gave of 
yore, and still compelled by fate to say : 

Not again, 
O, frk'uds, may I behold bright Moretowu's vah) 
And taste the sweetness of her mountain gale, 
I know no home in this dear hind and fair 
Tliat was my father's, and, its limits past 
My backward yearning looks must be my last 
Tliat ever linger ou it ; not when laid 
In the still sleep can my retnniing shade 
IJehold it ghostly, — I shall have my grave 
III th<! far \V('st(^ru land. 

Mr. Carpen'TEr's birth-place and the home of his yotithfiil days 
was only a dozen miles from the town of my own nativity, the hills 
of which I can still see from my present home, and we first met 
when we were both verv vouno- and studvino- law, at a small school- 
house situated in the very heart of»tlie mountains, to contend 
through the whole day and night for the rights of our respective 
clients in a very small aflair, before a farmer justice of the peace 
and a jury of six. 

In liis earlier as in liis later days his characteristic^! were an 
extreme gentleness of disposition, kindness of heart, and atTability of 
manner, combined with a resistless and restless energy of intellect 
that rarely saw any obstacle too formidable to be assailed. 

He possessed a breadth of intellectual gra.sp and an aeuteness of 
discrimination tliat I have rarely seen equaletl, and his jiower of 
research and analysis was superb. His capacity for lucid statement 
and logical deduction was perfect; and to all these he added a 
wealth of learning, particidarly in the law, a richness of voice, a 
fluency of speech, and an eloquence that made him, I think, one of 
the most remarkable men of any time. In the respects mentioned 
in the passage I shall quote, his character was an almost perfect 
parallel with that of Hortensius, perhaps the very finest of Roman 
3c 



34 LIFE AXD CHAJIACTER OF MATTHEir H. CARPEXTEU. 

lawyers, as it is described by Cicero. After mentioning Cotta's 
manner of speaking, Cicero says: 

The language of Hortenshis was splendid, warm, and animated, and far 
more lively and pathetic both in his stylo and action. He had such an excel- 
lent memory, th.at what he composed in private he was able to repeat without 
notes in the very same words he made use of at first. He employed tliis nat- 
ural advantage with so much readiness that he not only recalled whatever he 
had written or premeditated himself, but he remembered everything that had 
been said by his opiiouents, without any notes. He was intlamed with such a 
passionate fondness for the iirofession that I never saw any one who took 
more pains to improve himself; for he would not suffer a day to elapse with- 
out either speaking in the forum or composing something at home, and very 
often be did both on the same day. He had, besides, a turn of expression which 
was far from being lax and imelevated, and possessed, too, other accomplish- 
ments in which no one could equal him ; an uncommon clearness and accuracy 
in stating the points he was to speak to ; and a neat and easy manner of col- 
lecting the substance of what had been said by his antagonist and by himself. 
He had, likewise, an elegant choice of words, an agreeable iiow in his periods, 
a copious elocution, with a sweet and sonorous voice, which he was partly 
indebted for to a fine natural capacity, and partly acquired by the most labo- 
rious rhetorical exercises. In short, he had a most retentive view of his sub- 
ject, and always divided and parceled it out with the greatest exactness ; and 
he very seldom overlooked anything which the case could suggest that was 
proper either to support his own allegations, or to refute those of his oppo- 
nents. 

Tims over a period of twenty centuries, — thanks to the art of 
printing and the historic continuity of civilization, — we may not 
only compare systems of jurisprudence and the j^rogress of nations 
as a whole, but note the individual actors in far distant scenes, and 
know that the race of man does not degenerate. So well known 
were these great and rare qualities of INIr. Carpexter that at a 
time of great public embarrassment and difficulty, and before he 
had demonstrated in the Senate his eminence in aifairs as well as in 
law, he was called from Wisconsin to Washington in 1867 by !Mr. 
Stanton, then Secretary of War, to aid by liis counsel in consulta- 
tion, as well as by argument in the Supreme Court, in upholding 
the provisions Congress had thought it necessary to make concern- 
ing the rehabilitation of the States then lately in rebellion. From 
that time to his deatli lie was, I tliink it probable, concerned in 



ADDRESS OF Mli. DAVIS, OF ILLIXOIS. 35 

more of the very important litigation in tiie courts tlian any other 
one man. In the Senate, also, he bore a leading and justly con- 
spicuous part in measures of national policy, and his tireless mind 
always brought forth to us from its abuudant storehouse treasures 
of learning and reason, and his clear, strong, sweet voice and tlie 
beauty of his dirtinn always wrapt us in silence and attention. 
But I must suspend. 

In an acquaintance of more than thirty years and an intimacy of 
nearly fifteen we never had an unfriendly feeling or dispute, and I 
never received from him a word hurtful or unkind. His few 
human faults I forget, as I w'ould wish my own to be forgotten. 
Peace to his great soul. I mourn him as a brother — and he was 
my brother, for he was the son of our common mother, Vermont, 
who cheerfully gave him, as she has so many of her children, to 
build up States like hei-self along the borders of the great lakes 
and in all the valleys of the upper waters of the Mississippi — 
republics whose rule is peace and justice, and whose free prosperity 
has become a beacon for the world. 



Address of Mr. Davis, of Illinois. 

Mr. President: The histoiy of the life, and of the emiuent 
career of our departed colleague, and friend, has been well told by 
those whose particular province it was to discharge that duty. I 
come sadly to drop a tear upon his grave, and to mingle my per- 
sonal sorrow with the general grief at his taking off. 

He was great ; he was gifted ; he was generous. In the qualities 
that adorn human nature, none excelled hiui. There was no lurk- 
ing place in his make-up for envy, for malice, or for hatred. It 
did not need the exercise of charity for him to forgive injustice, 
nor to forget ino;ratitude, because his big heart overflowed with 



36 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MATTHEW U. CARREXTER. 

kindness. Ho could not tre;\sui-e up wrong, even wlun calumny 
assailed him. 

Always quick with sympathy, and with succor, his hand was open 
to soothe distress, to aid the feeble, and to answer every call of 
friendship. Who ever appealed to him in vain for relief, or for 
comfort ? If he had a weakness, it was on the generous side of 
frail humanity. The mere name, or the very semblance of afflic- 
tion, touched him as deeply as actual suffering. 

Mr. Carpenter was neither a statesman, nor a politician. He 
was pre-eminently a lawyer, M-ho may be said at a single b@uud, to 
have leaped into the front rank of the profession which he loved, 
and which he honored. In another sphere, it was my privilege to 
have known, long before his national fame was achieved, how well 
he deserved distinction, and how certain it was to come with the 
first opportunity. 

Endowed with flue genius, he did not trust to natural parts for* 
success. As a laborious and faithful student, he mastered the sci- 
ence of the law ; he stored his mind with large learning ; he enriched 
it with culture, and he traiued it with severe discipline. The cause 
of the humblest client, found his counsel as true and as earnest, as 
that which gave him a world-wide renown. 

He brought into the Senate the habits of thought, and the pro- 
cesses of reasoning, which had become a second nature in his pro- 
fessional life. All his speeches were arguments. No shackles of 
party could fetter an intellect, which was self-asserting in its inde- 
pendence, and which always rejoiced in a free atmosjihere. 

The pleasing presence, the graceful manners, the hearty welcome, 
the confiding friendship, and the warm nature of our late brother, 
are now gathered like beautiful flowers around his coffin. We who 
are left to mourn over his loss, will long cherish their perfume in 
our memories. In the very prime of life, with a grand future 
opening out before him, he was snatched away. 



ADDUESS OF MH. DAI IS, OF iijjyois. 37 

AVc all know of his shining characteristics ; but orily lew know 
of the moral heroism which bore him tlirough the long struggle 
that ended in death. For more than a year before the dread sum- 
mons cam", he may l)c said to have counted every puksatiim of his 
Heeting life. lie studied the scientific tests that revealed the inev- 
itable doom, with the calmness of a philosopher in search of knowl- 
edge, as day by day the passage shortcnc<], and the gloomy goal 
loomed up a stern reality. What courage in the field of battle 
compares with this heroism of the closet? W'ho that saw Iiini here 
in tlie last Senatorial scenes, stricken, it is true, iu look, and his 
elasticity shattered, but joyous in greeting, fervid in utterance, and 
his mind flashing witli brightness, could have supposed that he car- 
ried witii him the secret sentence of an early grave? No outward 
sign told of that impending calamity. 

To us, who are more aged than the lamented Senator was, this 
lesson speaks with the strongest admonition. But to all, young as 
well as old, it is notice to prepare for that future, wliich tlie sublime 
mercy of God has reserved for well-spent live-. 

I move the adofrtion of the pending resolutions. 

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on tlie ado])- 
tion of the resolutions presented by the Senator from Wisconsin 
[Mr. Cameron], 

The resf^lutions were agreed to unanimously ; and (at one o'clocl<; 
and fortv minutes p. m.) the Senate adjourned. 



'ROCHHDINGS IN THE HOUSH OF RF.l'Rl'SiiXTATIVHS. 



In the House op Eepeesentatives, 

January 25, 1882. 

DEATH OF IIOX. jrATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

A message frcmi the Senate, by Mr. Synipson, one of" !(.•< clerks, 
comrauiiicated to tiie House the resolutious of the Senate on the 
announcement of the deatli of Hon. Matthew H. Carpenter, 
late a Senator of the United States from the State of Wisconsin. 

The resohitions were read, as follows: 

jRcsoh-ed, That tlio Senate has heard, nvitb i)rofoiiiid sorrow, of tlio death of 
Hon. Matthew H. Caupenter, late a Senator from the State of Wisconsin, 
and extends to his afilicted family sincere sympathy and condolence in their 
bereavement. 

JUesotred, That, as an additional mark of respect for the memory of Mr. 
CAKrEXTicn, the regnhir Imsiness of the Senate be now snspended in order 
that his former associates in this body may pay fitting tribute to his memory. 

licsohrd, That the Secretary of the Senate be directed to transmit to the 
family of the deceased, and also to the Governor of Wisconsin, a certified copy 
of these resohitions, with a statement of the action of the Seiiati! thereon. 

licsnlred, That the Secretary of the Senate coimmiiiicate tlnse rcsidiitions 
to the House of Representatives. 

Ilvsohed, That, as a further testimonial of respect to the memory of the de- 
ceased Senator, the Senate do now adjourn. 

Mr. WILLIAMS, of Wisconsin. Mr. Siieaker, I submit the 
resolutions which I send to the Clerk's desk. 
The Clerk read as follows : 

Sesohed, That the House of Representatives has received with profound 
sorrow the announcement of the death of Hon. Matthew H. Caupkntei:, 
late a United States Senator from the State of Wisconsin. 

Jiesolced, That the business of the House be now susiiended that ojjportunity 
may be given for fitting tributes to the memory of tlio deceased and to his 
public and private worth. 

Hcsotvtd, That, as a further mark of respect, the House, at the conclusion 
of such reniark.s, shall adjourn. 

39 



40 i.ii'i-^ isn (ii.inAcricn nv MATTnicir n. CAHVicxTJcn. 



Address of Mr. Williams, of "Wisconsin. 

jMr. Speaker: On tlic morning of tiic 24tii of Fobruarv last, 
at liis resilience on Connecticut avenue, iu Washington, at forty- 
five minutes jiast nine o'clock, Matthew II. Carpenter died. 
It so clianced that with others I spent the night at his liedside and 
saw him breathe his lii.st. I am aware that the scenes of the death- 
chamber are sacred, not to be drawn upon for mere dramatic effect, 
but there were incidents connected with this one which I think 
more fully portra}' the characteristics of the deceased than volumes 
of eulogy could do. I was told that some short time before he liad 
wandered slight!}' in Iiis mind, and in his dreams fancied himself 
back among liis Vermont hills again ; that he spoke tenderly, even 
]ilaintively, of his mother, who died when he was a Oiere lad, and 
then for minutes together he would fall into deep an'd fervent 
prayer. But on this last night his brain was clear and his lion-like 
nature never more strongly asserted itself. 

He had been told by his physicians that the end was near, yet, 
with that dauntless courage which never forsook him, he came up 
to meet the final sentence under which he had knowingly walked 
for the last year and a half, but had never mentioned to his most 
trusted friend. As the shadow deepened and he began to sink, his 
devoted wife clung to him on the one side, while on the other was 
his loving daughter, and above them the pale face of liis young 
son. I noticed that the daughter invariably addressed him as "my 
boy!" and when near the last she would say: "Do you knmo me, 
my boy?" His great eyes would open and in a voice modulated 
only by affection he would reply: "Why, of course I do!" and 
when the wife made the same inquiry, always addressing him by the 
familiar and endearing term, " Matt," the response was the same. At 
one time, near midnight, when the attending physician had persuaded 



JDDUJCSS OF MH. WILTJAMS, OF IVISCOXSIX. 41 

the family to retire for awliile, and liiiiiself was seeking needed 
rest, I was left in the room with no one but the eolored man, Rob- 
ert, wlio told me, in a voice stifled with emotion, that he had been 
the Senator's body servant for twelve years and more. Having 
occasion to go to the parlors belo\\-, and returning before I was ex- 
pected, a most impressive scene met my view. The light was low; 
the Senator was sleeping. The thick silver locks fell back from 
his massive forehead. Near him on the carpet was the pile of law 
books which he had ordered from his office and studied in his last 
case, while at the foot of the bed the colored man, Robert, knelt 
in silent prayer ! 

This, Jlr. Speaker, is fxct, not fancy, and it tells the whole story. 
Intellect of the highest mold, mastery of the profoundest prin- 
ciples, and kindness and love for the humblest of God's creatures 
were the grand characteristics of Wisconsin's dead Senator. 

Mr. Carpenter was born at Moretown, Vermont, December 22, 
1824. He was the eldest son of Ira and Anne Carpenter. With 
the perversity and persistence of ail popular fallacies, the inijires- 
sion is wide-spread Ihat Mr. Carpenter came from a very humble 
parentage, whereas the fact is that his father and grandfither were 
both versed in the law and attained considerable local distinction 
in their profession, especially the grandfather, Cephas Carpenter, 
who is said to have been a man of powerful physique, possessing 
many of the striking characteristics so marked in his gifted grand- 
son. The father was slight in stature and methodical in all his 
ways, while through the Senator's whole life there ran a low lament 
for that blonde and spiriiucUe mother beside whose coffin he stood at 
the tender age of nine years. 

These are the elements whence came those wonderful powers and 
that matchless logic and eloquence which moved men, captivated 
juries, convinced courts, commanded senates! He did indeed, sir, 
walk with the port and majesty of a king, but he bore aiiiun<l with 



42 LIFE AXD CHARACTER OF MAITITEW H. CARPENTER. 

liini a heart as tender as a ehikl's, and a disposition as sweet and 
gentle as a mother's love. 

The details of his early life need not be dwelt upon. At the age 
of twelve years he was adopted into the family of Hon. Paul Dil- 
lingham, of Vermont, by whom he was carefully educated, and 
M'hose daughter he subsequently married. Thus, under the same 
roof, he found the guiding hand of a noble father and the cheerful 
smile of a devoted wife. In 1843 and 1844 he was a cadet in the 
Military Academy at West Point, where ho made rapid i)rogress, 
especially in the languages. But the dry details of tactics had little 
charm for him, and at the end of two years he left the academy, 
returned to Vermont, studied law, and was admitted to the bar at 
Montpelier. Rightly judging that mere theoretical study was of 
little avail without the advantages of practical experience in an 
office, he resolved to i)m'sue his studies in that direction, and, with 
the unerring instinct which never foi'sook him, if he chose at all he 
Avould choose the best. 

Making his way to Boston, he boldly applied to Rufus Choate 
for a place in his office. It is said that the great lawyer was 
impressed by the manly appearance of the youthful applicant, and 
inquired of his head clerk if there was room in the front office for 
another student. On being informed that there was not, he ordered 
a table to be placed in his own private office, and set young Car- 
penter to work. Half by way of a test and half by way of a 
joke, before leaving for court he handed the young student a letter 
to answer from a country attorney asking Mr. Choate's opinion 
upon a question of law. Young Carpenter worked diligently 
all day, embodying the result of his work in a carefully prepared 
letter to the correspondent. AVhat was Mr. Choate's surprise on 
liis return to find that the letter contained the very epitome of the 
law, stated in the clearest and concisest terms. Reading it care- 
fully over a second time he said : "I guess I can put ' R. Choate' to 



ADDRESS OF Ml!. IIILLIAMS, OF IIISCOXSJX. 43 

the end of that and tell the fellow to send me a hundred dollars." 
Tlie name was attached, the letter sent, and the money (juiekly 
returned. From that hour young Carpenter was ingratiated 
into the affection and favor of his illustrious patron, and, through 
all the dark hours that followed, the sun of that groat friendship 
was never clouded. 

In 1848 he took up his residence at Beloit, Wisconsin, now a 
young and thrifty city, but then more like a New England village. 
Mr. Carpenter entered no obscure western hamlet, as has been so 
often said, but mingled at once with the highest social refinement, 
and met at the bar some of the ablest lawyers of the Northwest. 
He soon became afflicted with inflammation of the eyes, and was 
totally blind for two years. Going to New York City for treat- 
ment, he met with an experience which borders on the sengational. 
He had exhausted all his means, and, being blind and among 
strangers, had prepared and expected to go to the county house the 
next day, when that night the long expected and mysteriously 
delayed draft from Mr. Clioate came to hand, and let light, if 
not into his eyes, into his heart and soul. Again returning to 
the West andTegaining his eyesight, he entered actively upon the 
practice of his profession. Though a Democrat of the straightest 
sect, he was elected prosecuting attorney in a county overwhelm- 
ingly Whig. From votes claimed to be irregular, the certlfiaite 
and office were given to his opponent. Nothing daunted, he 
brought suit in the sujireme court, conducted his own case, and not 
only obtained the office, but by his masterly argument drew to him- 
self the attention of the bench and bai- of the entire State. Thence- 
forth his progress in his profession was a triumphal march. 

A distinguished lawyer in the West once said that Carpenter 
might not be the greatest lawj'er that ever lived, but certainly no 
other man was ever born who could go into court, take possession 
of judge, jury, witnesses, opposite counsel, all, and drive where he 



44 LIFE AND CIIAliACTER OF MATTHEW R. CAEFEXTER. 

pleased as Matt. Carpenter could. He was a strict construc- 
tionist of the Constitution, and, as I have said, a Democrat inborn. 
His reverence for tliat sacred instrument amounted to a devotion, 
and he believed any deviation from its strictest letter and spirit, 
however slight, would loosen the foundations of the republic. He 
lacked no sympathy for the oppressed, but believed that in the 
imperfection of human affairs the individual wrong should succumb 
to the greater common good. A leading Senator once said of him : 
" Carpenter is too great a lawyer to ever become a great states- 
man." In a qualified sense that may have been true. 

Whatever he saw, he saw with such logical clearness that he had 
little patience to bother with the side-lights of whims and isms. 
He spoke right out, no matter what the mood of the time, and 
lacked something of that skill which, without bating one jot or 
tittle of principle, humors the caprices of the hour, molds the non- 
essentials of the situation, and finally wields them as a positive 
jiowcr in the accomplishment of practical results. The radical 
difficulty with Mr. Carpenter and his political school was the 
belief that human agreements once made could outlast all the 
changes of human conditions and all the demands ofhumau prog- 
ress. He forgot that "blood is thicker than water," and that man 
is but jHiny when he buffets the torrent of events; that his writs 
of law are but ropes of sand in the presence and movements of 
those mighty forces which must be peaceably composed or they will 
upheave nations and overthrow empires. But the open blow of 
rebellion brought Mr. Carpenter to his feet. His deity, the 
Constitution, had been assaulted, and the love he bore it but added 
flame to his fierceness. From that hour he placed patriotism above 
party, and the grcat law of self-defense above all written constitu- 
tions, and from that high political Sinai there came a voice that 
filled all our Badger State and sent thousands of her sons marching 
forth to battle. 



ADDRESS OF Mi:. HILLIdMS. OF UISCOXSIX. 4") 

Few specimens of Mr. Carpenter's eloquence of tliiit time Iiavo 
been preserved, but surely never have our pc()i)le been so moved 
and thrilled by mortal voice! The followins^ will afford a glimpse 
of the patriotic fire \\-hicli filled his soul. At a great war meeting 
in Milwaukee he said : 

Nearly forty years of ])rof(>uiul public tranquillity have passed over and 
lilesscd our land. Wo have forgotten to use the weapons of war and have 
cultivated tho arts of peace. We have engrossed our thoughts and enlisted 
our hearts in the pursuits of agriculture, manufactures, and connncrce, and 
■advancing the arts and sciences most useful to man. 

Xo nation has been so blessed — none has so prospered. While we have thus 
been improving all our mutual intiTests, ama.ssing wealth at home and aeeu- 
nnilating honors abroad, other nations have been vexed and worried with tho 
" dogs of war"; the war-cloud has darkened the sunny sky of Italy; armies 
have trampled the vine-clad fields of France, aiul the recruiting drum has 
been heard on the green hills .and sweet valleys of Merry England. » » • 
We hang out onr banner; no dusty rag representing tho twilight of seven 
stars, but the old l)anner that has floated triumphantly in every breeze ; the 
banner Decatur uufurled to tho Barbary States; that Jackson held over New 
Orleans; that Scott carried to the Halls of tho Montezumas; and thereby we 
moan to say, in no .spirit of defiance, but with the firmness of manly resolu- 
tion, this flag shall wave while an American lives to protect it. 

Mr. Carpenter vaulted at once from the bar to the Senate, and 
the story of his subsequent career is written in one of the most im- 
portant epochs of American history. Always choosing the fore- 
most man for an opponent, his advent into the Senate was marked 
by a bold challenge to Charles Sumner for open combat. A\'ell 
might Mr. Sumner have looked with contempt upon the temerity 
of this young fledgling from the AYest, but no sooner hiu.1 the de- 
bate opened than he discovered, like Fitz-James of old : 

No maiden's hand is round thee thrown ! 
That desperate grasp thy frame might foci, 
Through bars of brass and triple steel ! 

And though smarting with wounds just received, the great Massachu- 
setts statesman had the magnanimity to say that the mantle of Daniel 
Webster had fallen upon this yoving Senator from Wisconsin. 

Since his death a leading Eastern journal, by no means friendly 
to Mr. Carpenter, has said that while the above wa.s a common 



46 LIFE AND CnAIUCTER OF MATTHEW H. CAIiPEXTEIi. 

and easy thing to say, it came nearer being true in this ease than in 
most others. Another leading journal of the East, noted for the 
candor of its statements, savs : 

With perhaps two exceptions, no genius so steady, no intellect so sustained 
as Carpenter's lias been known iu any sphere of American public life since 
the death of Jetferson and Hamilton. We think, indeed, iu the rare qnality 
of oratory Cakpexteu will be ranked with such master minds as Burke and 
Macaulay. 

But it was not from the gi-aces of speech that INIr. Carpenter 
won his most enduring fame. Men like Judge Black, Reverdy 
Johnson, Edwin M. Stanton, and others equally eminent, have as- 
signed him a place among the foremost American lawyers and 
statesmen. All agree that in his argument in the celebrated Mc- 
Ardle case he mapped out the whole plan of reconstruction which 
was subsequently adopted and followed. The prediction may well 
be made that since the death of Daniel Webster the speeches of no 
man on constitutional law will be read with more care than those 
of Mr. Carpenter. He gave little heed to apjjearances, and in 
many things was most singularly misunderstood. Tlie impression 
widely prevailed, especially among those who did not know him 
j)ersonally, that he was light and frivolous ; that he trusted to his 
genius, and lacked industry. Why, sir, no more industrious man 
lived than Matthew H. Carpenter. He trusted nothing to im- 
pulse. I remember hearing hiiu say that in preparing a short letter 
for publication on the subject of legislative control of railroads, he 
commenced the letter before the gas was lighted in the evening, 
worked continuouslv throuo;h the night, and onlv finished it after 
the gas was turned out in the morning. And this letter, sir, was the 
acorn planted iu a night which thereafter, in the Supreme Court of 
the United States, grew to a mighty oak. He trusted nothing to 
chance. He explored all possible sources of information, and was 
never satisfied until he had probed his subject to the bottom. 

It was thus that frequently in the merry twinkle of his humor 



AIlDRIiSS OF MI!. WILLIAMS, 01' WISCOXSIS. 47 

he would start questions in the Senate wliich his brother Senators 
wonkl at first treat as fanciful, but no sooner had they grappled 
with him in debate than they discovered that it was they and not 
he who required time for study and reflection. Notably w:is this 
the ciise in one of his hist speeches delivered in the Senate, relating 
to the jurisdiction of consular courts. Another false impression 
was that he wa-s careless in business, and his own self-criticism often 
gave color to the belief. Yet the fact was that he made a state- 
ment to his family at the end of each month, and his business affairs 
were no more confused when he died than his intellectual processes 
were while he lived. Such was his promptitude in meeting pecu- 
niary obligations that at no time after he arrived at manhood would 
his check be dishonored at any bank whci'e he w;is known. 

As for his pei-sonal and official integrity his former law 2>ar(ner 
at Milwaukee relates the following: 

Wliilo sitting with liiin iu his private office in Washington one morning 
before the Senate couvenetl, a gentleman walked in, and, handing his card to 
Mr. Cakpentek, stated that he wished to retain him in a case then ))ending 
in the Snprenie Court, and hiying down a §5,000 check, payable to Mr. C.wi- 
I'ENTKk's order, remarked that on the following Wednesday he wonid call 
and pay hiui another §,"),000. He casnally observed that two other eminent 
lawyers, whom he named, wonld .argue the case, and he would not need to 
participate in the argument. The last remark attracted Mr. C'Aiii'KNrEK's 
attention, and he rccpiested the gentleman to take his §5,000 check with him, 
and if he concluded to accept a retainer he conld p.ay the whoh^ when he 
called again. The next week the gentleman returned with a check for ji 10, 100. 
liut in the mean tinu> it had been ascertained that the proll'ered client had a 
claim for .§308,000 against the government then pending before the Senate and 
referred to the .Judiciary Committee of that body, and then referred to a sub- 
committee, of which Mr. CAKrKXTr.R was chairman. The result -was that his 
retainer was declined, with a sharp lecture upon the subject of retaiuini' 
lawyers and paying them large fees for doing nothing. Snbseciuently the 
claim of this gentleman was investigated in committee, and Mr. C.vkpenter 
m.ade a report against the bill, which was defeated iu the Senate. 

I have thus referred, though imperfectly, to some of the leading 

incidents of Mr. C.-VRPENTEr's life, purposely leaving to others the 

more congenial duty of paying fitting tribute to his memory. Our 

loved and lamented Carpenter is dead. His merrv lauo-h is 



48 T.ii'E Axn cn.in.iCTicn of matthew u. cahpextei^. 

hushed in the grave. His silvery voice will lie heard no more 
forever ! The vacancy his loss creates in our State can never be 
filled. He was tlie pet and idol of our people. They knew his 
virtues, and could forgive his faults. No man was ever followed 
to the grave by all the people with more unaffected grief than he. 
The memory and the light of throe great intellects shine over the 
waters of our inland seas — Garfield at Cleveland, Douglas at Chi- 
cago, and Carpenter at Milwaukee. There let them rest! As 
the old Green Mountain State looks westward over hill and plain, 
she can say, with welling pride, "Yonder on the border of those 
waters sleep two of my most illustrious sons; illustrious in life, 
immortal in death! They revered the Constitution; they adored 
their country ! " 

Mr. Speaker, on the 10th of April last, along country roads, 
through drifted snows, we bore the remains of our loved Senator 
to their last resting-place. There let him sleep, and let the Western 
poet besjjeak our tribute and our grief: 

O'er westeru plains the snow is swept and sifted; 

The -wind's wild wail is liorne along the air; 
The forests groan, the highways deep are drifted ; 

The ridges all are bare. 

Cold comes the arctic wave; the sun is hidden 
From human sight by cheerless clonds of gray; 

From the far north the storm-king comes unbidden 
To greet us day by day. 

By glowing grates within the snow-bonud city. 
By blazing farm-house fires; in woodman's shed. 

Men's voices whis))er with regret and pity, 
" fl'isc^iisin's chit/ is dead .' " 

He sleeps to-day the sleep that knows no waking; 

Ho goes, with folded hands upon his breast, 
Just as the morning clouds of peace are breaking. 

To his eternal rest. 

Grand was his work, and wise the legislation 
He helped to fashion witli his brilliant mind. 

"When may we tiud, in all this gifted nation, 
A heart more brave and kind ? 



AIJDEJ;S$ OF MI!. li.lSSdX, (IF KiW.i. 49 



Address of Mr. KassON, of Iowa. 

Mr. Speaker: There are two opposite civilization.s who.se g:ite.s 
are always open to tlie progress of talent, of genius, and of anil)itiou. 
One of these is in the far east, where the monarch, loving his ease, 
welcomes any talent which fills his treasury, and the statecraft which 
directs his armies to cou(juest or relieves him from the burdens of 
administration. There the imagination of all classes is full of 
dreams of wealth and power to be gained by the arts of intrigue, 
and the utmost .strength of the human intellect is directed to seize 
and control the threads of influence which center iu the one man who 
possesses the throne and is the fountain of prosperity. In this 
struggle freemen and slaves aliUe take part, and both have made 
themselves illustrious in eastern history. The Hebrew boy who 
was carried into Egypt as a slave became its ruler, and the gladia- 
tor who fought in the arena at Rome became its emperor. 

In this far west and in tliis New World we, more fortunate, enjoy 
the other of these civilizations. Talent, ambition, genius are not 
here directed to the winning of one single, weak, human intellect. 
Their power must be great enough to inclose millions in its grasp. 
No personal contact can here win the favor of the throne to which 
ihey aspire. They triumph only by the force of intellectual quali- 
ties so strong and so brilliant that they illunn'nate the masses of 
men lilce rays from the sun. Tinder their influence mankind feels 
a new joy as it ac-knowledges and welcomes a leader of men. No- 
where on the globe is intellectual greatness more highly a[)preciated 
than in America. The stimulus to its development, found in listen- 
ing crowds of all degrees of education and of all ranks of society, 
is far more jjowerful and of higher motive than that fduiid in any 
single fountain of honor, though it flow I'rom the foot of a throne. 

When that son of Vermont whose unfinished life and premature 
4c 



50 LIFE AXD CHMIACTEB OF MATTnFJT B. CAIirENTEI!. 

flcath we deplore to-day left his native mouutaius for a new home, 
his miud was already disciplined by the severe mathematics of West 
Point and by the stern logic of the common law. His manly form, 
his large brow, his animated eye betokened the liberal gifts with 
whicli nature had endowed him. For a year he lived in the glow of 
that great orator and lawyer of Massachusetts, Rufus Choate, 
whose amazing wealth of fancy and of language seemed to have 
fallen, like the prophet's mantle, upon the opening genius of his 
pupil. Even the rigid demands of closely reasoned law could not 
extinguish in him the play of imagination and the flashes of his 
ready wit. Burke, while speaking in eulogy of a great English 
lawyer-statesman, pauses to celebrate the logical discipline of mind 
effected by the lawyer's profession, but condemns it in the admin- 
istration of State affairs as leading to technical arts and narrowness 
of intellect. But in Senator Carpenter it only exercised a whole- 
some restraint over the exuberance of his fancy and the luxuriance 
of his intellectual growth. 

Nature and study had equipped this child of the mountains for 
another and more auspicious scene of action. A compact city on 
the shores of New England, whose walks of life were full of mature 
men alre;idy in possession of the avenues leading to professional 
success and distinction, was not the place for him. He left the older 
communities of the East and souy;ht the immature and irrowino; 
West. There the i^eople stood not in serried ranks, but in open 
files. There mingled emigrants from all the States and from Europe. 
There humanity was to be molded into effective order, and all forms 
of superior labor could win the open harvest. Industry, patience, 
talent, worth, were sure of early apjireciation and of final success ; 
and he was not disappointed. 

The civilization of the West opened its gates wide to the ambi- 
tion of the young lawyer and orator. The oriental arts of intrigue 
and adulation had here no place. Instead of their narrowing effect, 



ADDRKSS OF MR. CASWELL, OF UISCOXSIX. 51 

liis .splendid gifts found a sphere iis boundless as the uiihmlcen hori- 
zon of his adopted Stiitc. Under the honntiful nourishment of ;ui 
appreciative people he advanced quickly to the front rank of men. 

In the Supreme Court aud in the Senate his intellectual charac- 
teristics gave him an cxceiitionally brilliant position. He awakened 
the sedateness of both by his incisive logic, and startled each in 
turn by pungent satire and illuminating wit. In his presence no 
circle could be dull aud no audience drowsy. No artifice escaped 
his i)erception and no preten.se could survive his assault. Brave in 
intellectual fight, ho nourished no bitterness toward his foes. Sym- 
pathetic in nature, warm in friendship, brilliant in intellect, inde- 
pendent in criticism, generous in hostility, glowing in oratory, and 
distinguished in position, for a full year he was obliged to look 
straight into the face of coming Death; and then he departed in the 
earlier ripeness of his rich manhood. 

Mr. Speidver, there is unhappily left to us, his former friends and 
colleagues in this great parliament of the nation, only the melan- 
choly satisfaction of laying these tributes of our alfection and 
respect ujwn the grave in which his ambitions and our hopes of 
him alike lie Ituried. 



Address of Mr. Caswell, of "Wisconsin. 

Mr. Speaker: I cannot permit this occasion to pass without 
adding a few to the many fit and proper words which will be spoken 
here to-day upon the life and chai'acter of .so great a man a-s Mat- 
thew Hale Carpenter. It was my good fortune for some 
years to receive advice and instruction as a student in his office, 
and I learned to know the man and jiis great worth as one only can 
know who saw his daily walk in private as well as in pul)lic life. 
He was a man who drew after him a friendship which did not 
depart. The more one knew of his traits of character the better 



52 UFE AND CHARACTEl! OF MATTHEW II. CAUrEKTEB. 

he loved him. His warm, impulsive nature, his generous heart, 
and great fund of knowledge drew about him a circle of acquaint- 
ances who were charmed into a life-long attachment. When I first 
made Ids acquaintance he had practiced at his ])rofession only two 
yeai's, but he had already gained a reputation and experieuee seldom 
enjoyed by others in a Iialf score of years. 

Mr. Carpenter was a cadet at West Point, but he soon found 
there was a field for his labors more adapted to his nature and talents, 
and where his brilliant mind could find unlimited sway. He left 
the Military Academy and began the study of law, first with Gov- 
ernor Dillingham, of Vermont, and lastly witli New England's dis- 
tinguished lawyer and advocate, Rufus Choate. He went, as it 
were, to the fountain-head for his law. and his style of oratory. 
When there, he imbibed the ambition to rival, at some day, even 
his instructors. It was the pride of his heart to l)e placed in 
history alongside of Choate and Webster, and I believe, as I have 
heard him say, while yet a youth, he preferred a single feather from 
the plume those men wore to all the wealth which iuuuan hands 
could acquire. 

In 1848 Mr. Carpenter completed his studies and obtained ad- 
mission to the bar. He was then twenty-four years of age. The 
far West was promising homes and success to the young and enter- 
prising men then stepping into active life. His great love of fel- 
lowship, his admiration of the people, and desire to grow uj) with 
them, turned his footsteps westward, to seek honor and fame among 
the pioneers of Wisconsin. He settled that year at Beloit. At 
once he entered upon the practice of liis profession, witli an indus- 
try seldom witnessed. 

Not content with American or local authorities, he looked to a 
broader and more comprehensive discussion of the common ];iw. 
He went to the Code Justinian, to Coke and Littleton, for the grt'ut 
fundamental principles which should luiderlie and control tlie ad- 



ADDIiKSS OF MIL CASWELL, OF WISCOSSIN. 53 

judiciitiou of lii.s aiscs. He labored liard to settle the law of his 
adopted State in aeoordance witii tlic old and well-defined rules of 
the common law of England. His great efforts at the bar, as well 
as in the Senate, were uniformly strengthened by references and 
appeals to these principles. 

With his learning and talent, progress was most easy and rapid, 
and he wa.s soon an acknowlcxlged leader at the bar, ali)ngside of 
the ablest lawyers in the West. He not only loved tiie law and 
studied it as a student would study, but he sought with eagerness 
that ffeneral knowledges which is found in miscellaneous readiu";. 
Hare pa.ssages and ehoiee thoughts, betxutiiully c^xpressed, were se- 
lected and committed to memory, until his mind })ecanio a store- 
house full of literary treasures, from which he could draw at will. 

With a mind thus enriched he would turn a long and otherwise 
tedious trial into one of life and interest. His persuasive power 
and easy flow of language, his plain expression and simple style, 
made hiin an advocate who carried conviction to all who heard 
him. In a conflict he was like a majestic lion in the path of his 
adversary, but those he would convince he ajijiroached with a golden 
thread of truth and reason. On the trial of a cause he would 
concentrate all his learning and ability, and with masterly skill 
wrestle a.s though life do{)ended upon the result. In his client and 
his cause he firndy believed, and, believing, he turned not aside, 
but whatever of knowledge or tact he possessed was summoned to 
his aid and applied with marvelous success. 

A\'hen he died he owed nothing to the bencii or to the bar; he 
had not fcdcen from, but had added to, the law; always aiding the 
court with his arguments and reason, and all who heard him list- 
ened with profit. His briefs and labored arguments enlarged upon 
and extended the legticies of our ablest law-givers. When com- 
mentaries, lectures, and codes were exhausted; when neither the 
civil nor tlic connnon law conld reach the omer<rcn<'V of his case, 



54 LIFE AXD CnAliACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

lie would often appeal to the divine teachings of Christ and the 
Apostles as the true source of all that was good and wise. 

At the close of the M'ar, new questions arose, involving the con- 
dition of the States which had attempted to go out of the Union ; 
also of the rights of the peojile residing therein. He was among 
the first, as my colleague has already said, to devise and point out 
a plan of reconstruction. He believed in a government by the 
people, and he would remand the citizens of those States as soon as 
possible to the forms of self-government according to the letter and 
spirit of the Constitution. His plan and views were ado^ited in 
the main, and to him we are largely indebted for the settlement of 
these questions. 

Before his connection with this subject he was little identified 
with politics, though he had always belonged to a party, and was 
ready when occasion required to assert his beliefs. When the war 
broke out he arose above all parties and knew only his country and 
its safety. Whenever and wherever the government was assaulted 
he was ready to defend, and when the conflict raged fiercest his 
voice rang out through the land from the east to the west in sup- 
port of the party that could best save the Union. 

In 1868 he took a seat in the American Senate. 

As he had gained distinction at the bar and upon the stumj), so he 
acquired eminence as a statesman in the Senate. He found there a 
new forum, and there he met foemen worthy of his steel. He could 
there speak, not for a single client, but for a whole nation. He 
thus became possessed of that which few enjoy, eminence as a law- 
yer and statesman combined. Mr. Carpenter was noted for his 
social qualities. Though possessed of a courage to do right, he was 
tender of the feelings and opinions of even his adversary. His 
generous nature would not permit him to take undue advantage of 
the strong or turn a deaf ear to the weak. For the poor, his pity 
and sympathy were of easy touch. His forgiving kindness would 



ADDRESS OF ME. DUXXELL, OF MIXXESOTA. 55 

well-nigh murder justiTO. Charity had a strong abiding plara in 
his great heart, and if he erred at all it was in obedience to her 
commands. His own comfort and ease was his last thought. For 
a year before hLs death he must have known its silent but sure ap- 
proach. This, however, detracted nothing from his wonted cheer- 
fulness, and those who knew him best scarcely discovered his f:iil- 
iug health, certainly not hLs dangerous condition. His kind treat- 
ment to all, and his merry laugh, continued the same up to a few 
days before his death. Each day he greeted liis friends as he did 
in the morning of life. He concealed his suiierings and gradual 
dissolution until he met them no more. To the very last his mind 
retained its vigor, never wavering, never clouded. We ainuot realize 
how death can hush to silence so much at one stroke. In a mo- 
ment of time that great soul and life took its flight, and henceforth 
will abide with us no more. 

But I must pause. The virtues of the man need no attestation 
from me. They are known where he \vas known. They cannot 
be disguised or hidden from sight, but like the stars in a cloud- 
less night they will continue to shine while time shall hust. If 
we would praise or eulogize him, if we would make for him robes 
of pearl, we could do no better than recount his daily walic. 



Address of Mr. Bunnell, of Minnesota. 

Mr. Speakee : The eminent Senator from Wisconsin, whose 
earthly life ended amid the closing days of the last Congress, and 
to honor whose name and memory these ceremonies are now had, 
accjuired no obscure niche in the temple of fame dedicated in the 
public mind and memory to a record of the men who, during the 
l^viod of our national existence, have given conspicuous honor to 
the professions and avocations demanding for their successful prose- 



56 LIFE AXD CBABACTEB OF MATTnETT B. CARPENTER. 

cution great talents and large attainmeuts. The name of Mat- 
thew H. Carpenter will be held in fresh remembrance by this 
generation, and readily bring to mind the brilliant and learned 
lawyer and orator. His speeches from the rostrum, and the floor 
of the Senate, and his arguments before the highest courts and tri- 
bunals of the land, will long hold their place among the utterances 
of the great men to which time biings no loss of attractiveness or 
admiration. 

Senator Carpenter, in his professional and public career, was 
abreast with the first men of his time. Death had, indeed, too 
great a victory when it took him from the stage of action. Though 
it made its inexorable demands and fully disclosed its relentless 
character, yet its victory was only that the grand career should 
terminate, that further labors and other triumphs and life itself 
should not be, yet it could not take away hLs well-earned fame. 
That lives and will live, conquering even the incursions of time. 

Death makes uo conquest of tbis conqueror, 
For now be lives in fame, tliougli not in life. 

Others can better dwell upon the events of his remarkable life, 
and have already done so. It shall be mine, in a few sentences, to 
seek the grounds for the undisputed place he had in the pul)lic 
mind when death came, and the universal esteem and love in which 
he was held by the people of his adopted State. 

Those who heard him oftencst in the Supreme Court of the 
United States bring the highest tributes to his profound acquaint- 
ance with the first principles of jurisprudence; to his singularly 
acute, ready, and logical mind; to his marvelous power of labor 
and research; to his unerring grasp of all the points involved in 
the given case, and to his rare forensic powers. I am willing that 
some of them should speak for him here. 

When the bar of the Supreme Court of the Uiiitctl States met 
in the court-room on Monday, ]\Iarch 7, 1881, to pay a fitting 



ADDRESS OF MB. DUNNELL, OF MINNESOTA. 57 

tribute to tlic memory of tlie deceased brother, Senator Tlmrman 
said : 

It iiiii'lit seem to l)0 almost superfluous to say to tliis au<li<in('0 who ho was 
and wliivt he was. Then' is perhaps no one Iiero to-day who has not wituessetl 
some one or more of tlioso roniarkaUle disphiys of forensic eloiiuence and of 
legal learning for which ho was so justly distinguished. There are but few, 
if any, lawyers in the Republic who have not heard of his fame; for it was iis 
widespread as the continent. 

Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, on tlie .same occasion, in a .'^pcccli of 
great beauty and tenderness of sentiment, among other words, said : 

]5ut wlien we think of his great wisdom and wonderful skill in the forensic 
use of it, together with liisotherqualities of mindand heart, we cannot doubt 
that in his left hand would have been uncounted riches and abundant honor 
if oidy length of days had been given to his right. As it was, he distaucuid 
his contemporaries and became the peer of the greatest among those who had 
started long before him. The flow of his speech was steady and strong as the 
current of a great river. Every sentence was perfect; every word was fitly 
spoken; each apple of gold was set in its picture of silver. 

Senator Garland said : 

This is not an ordinary occasion, and it excites in all of us no ordinary feel- 
ings, for we have met hero to pay the last honors to mw of the rennirkablo 
men of tliis remarkable age aud this remarkable country. 

Attorney Embry said : 

In his professional and public life he consecrated himself whcdly to the great 
work before him. lie bowed before the altar of duty, lighti-d by the torch(^s 
of resolution aud fidelity, and made his physical strength a martyr to his in- 
tellectual energies, lie cherished a sacred reverence for the Constitution of 
liis conntrj', and, as an Ameilcaii Senator, he guarded it with .sleepless vigi- 
lance as the only pure fountain whose living streams refresh, invigorate, and 
sustain the national life. In law ho was an artist, like Michael Augelo in 
virgin marble, who, "fashioning the daintiest forms of beauty, handled his 
chisel aud his mallet as if lie were hewing a pyramid." 

Tliese are remarkable testimonials, aud from meu high in public 
confidence. 

Senator Carpenter was loved and honored by the peoplt; of 
Wi-sconsin, for he had by nature, and exhibited them in daily life, 
elements and traits of character which always bring admirers aud 
followers. He was sincere and triillifiil. Conviction pointed out 



58 LIFE AND CHABACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

to liiiu the path of duty ; it defined the obligations wliich he should 
assume and discharge. He honestly believed in the political party 
to which he joined himself, and cheerfully accepted its creed for his 
guidance. His defense of its principles was always manly and far 
removed from the modes and practices of the demagogue. He won 
the people in his political debates, for his appeals in their behalf, 
though always eloquent, sought to take the reason rather than the 
passions. He labored in honorable argument to convict the judg- 
ment of those who came to hear him. He treated them as his peers 
in the honors and responsibilities of citizenship, and would have 
them follow him only as they were forced to do so by the unan- 
swerableuess of his facts and arguments. The people may laugh 
at the anecdote of the orator who seeks only to please, but they will 
follow the orator who renders his principles unassailable by in- 
trenchments of undeniable fact and well-built arguments. 

The eminent statesman whom we seek to honor by these services, 
was bold and frank. He could not, from his very nature, play 
the coward or the deceiver. He boldly took his positions and 
frankly proclaimed them. He may have erred in judgment at 
some time, and, indeed, many times, but he could not purposely 
mislead. His openness, his freedom from deceit, gave him the 
hearts of the people. For these, they loved him and yielded to 
his arguments. These known and felt qualities of heart made him 
invincible. Estrangement cannot last long between a po^jular 
leader and his friends, where the former thus bears himself. The 
return of Mr. Carpenter to the Senate, after a short retirement, 
attests the correctness of this statement. 

The great orator and statesman was generoas and kind. His 
deeds of charity Mere many. He would defend the poor man 
with all his wealth of learning and eloquence when no fee could 
be expected. His early struggles against poverty had put him 
into sympathy with the unfortunate. His goodly nature, aside 



.tnniiESS OF MR. UUMPHREY, OF WISCONSIN. 59 

from liis personal exj)erience, had made liim the friend and de- 
fender of the poor. The eminent lawyer and accomplished orator 
was at the same time the ready friend, the kind, sympathetic suji- 
porter of him who was ready to i>erisli. Herein M-as honor. 
Hence shall come tiie sweet memories of noble deeds, followinsr 
into the distant future the name of him who performed them. 

The drying up a single tear has nioro 

Of honest fame than shedding seas of goro. 

Senator Carpenter ac(juired no wealth while in publit; life. 
His poverty increased while in the couu(;iis of the nation. 

In conclusion, great attainments in the science of law and of 
government, qualities of heart making him tlie ohjci't of sincere 
and trusting love with the people, unsurpassed devotion to prin- 
ciple and duty, a public service wholly free from all taint of cor- 
ruption and even doubtful gain, make it easy to record our pro- 
found respect for his noble life and character. He dignified labor, 
learning, and Christian charities. The nation mourns him. Her 
halls of legislation are now dedicated to a recital of his illustrious 
life and character. Beyond this we cannot go. We leave him 
and his name to the just work of impartial history. 



Address of Mr. Humphrey, of Wisconsin. 

.Mr. Speaker: The mantle of winter was still lintrerino- over 
the landscape, spring was struggling to emerge from the dead past 
into new life, while nature was striving to break the Ijands of her 
envu-onment to dec-k her witli garlands of roses and clothe Iicr 
ill mantles of green. Amid these contending forces the mind of 
Matthew Hai,e Carpenter was contemplating the great un- 
changeable change his sj)irit was awaiting. Surrounded by all 
that was dear to liiui in life, when the summons came, without a 



60 LIFE AXD CHARACTER OF MATTHEW U. CARPENTER. 

iminiuu- his spirit passed from earth into the realms of the ever- 
lasting. 

The fuueral obsequies at his home iu the Cream City of the West 
bear the clearest testimony of the very high and distinguished 
honor in which he was held by her mourning people. Legions of 
citizens of all ranks and conditions, clothed in the emblems of 
mourning, crowded every avenue to join in the last sad rite the 
living can pay to the dead — tenderly and lovingly laying him to 
rest where the blue Michigan laves her western shores. 

Yes, Matthew Hale Carpenter is no more ; but he will 
live in unftuled memory of his noble and generous heart, his full- 
ness of manly qualities, his illustrious and brilliant career. 

No words of mine can do him justice, nor can I in fitting lan- 
guage portray the powers of his eloquence, his profound knowledge, 
or that exquisite tension of mind which developed his genius and 
understanding. 

Born and reared among the rugged hills and mountains of his 
native State, whose primeval forests were ever pointing upwartl, he 
seems to have been inspired by their grandeur and sublimity, and 
taking for his motto " onward and upward," his young mind de- 
termined to grasp and solve not so much the laws by which nature 
had been guided in forming her rock-ribbed mountains and the 
forms of snow which capped their lofty peaks as the laws which 
lead his fellow-men on and up to a better civilization, which give 
peace and permanence to nations and the highest degree of social 
order to the people of a commonwealth. 

When we say he was an eminent lawyer we have bestowed but a 
half meed of praise, and we only do justice to his memory when we 
say that he was not only learned, brilliant, and elo(iuent, but that 
he was as profound as he was eloquent. 

When he arose to ax^ldrcss the court upon any question of great 
moment, he had only to [)rocced to a mere statement of the ca.se to 



JDDIUCSS OF .Ult. HOMPHUEY, OF WISCONSIN. 61 

convince you that it was a mere toy — a playthin<;; in liis liands ; 
tliat uutiriug energy and ceaseless toil iiad attended his steps by day 
and unwearying vigils had been his only companion by night. 
Sometimes in the opening of the case, but most frequently in 
the midst of the argument, his heart would seem to hold back 
the" great depth of thought which impelled him, that his l)rill- 
iant imagination might for a moment have full play and invest 
the theme with a charm that would captivate and entrance the 
hearer; then in quick succession would follow, as docs the artil- 
lery of heaven her l)rilliant flashes, the full weight of concentrattid 
thought and power of his reasoning until the argument forged by 
tlu! hand of genius appeared in all its proportions of strength and 
l)eiiuty. 

It has been saitl that energy and perseverance, added to an un- 
flagging spirit, are a full substitute for genius ; but here we find 
genius leading captive at her will, while energy and perseverance 
are ])roud to follnw in her train. 

That Matthbw Hale Carpentku was a student none who 
knew him will gainsay or deny, and in his legal pursuits he 
entcretl every domain that could furnish him materials for legal 
store or the bread of legal life and strength. 

. Like Chancellor Kent, he had great delight in the study and 
contemplations of the principles of the civil law, and as that emi- 
nent and renowned law writer has done more than any other to 
soften the asperities of the common law by ingrafting upon it some 
of those principles of the civil law which will ever shed luster 
upon the jurisprudence of this country, so did he whose life we 
are now coutemplating seek among things new and did, principles 
wliich, when once clothed upon l)y that perspicuity of reasoning 
for which he was so eminently distinguished, will ever tend to 
elucidate and adorn the spirit of our laws. 

He well knew that there was not a principle laid down l)v any 



62 LIFE AXI) CBAIf.lCTER OF ilATTIIFW H. CAUPENTER. 

law writer in Christendom which had not its foundation in the 
Pentateuch ; therefore, he not only consulted the Genesis of Man, 
but the Exodus and Judges of Israel ; history, philosophy, theology, 
and law, all were companions wliich he entertained with great 
zest aud delight, and from which he could at any moment select 
the choicest materials and at once invest his cause with an interest 
as solemn and a charm as fascinating as the most illustrious Roman 
senator or Athenian advocate. 

In private life his warm aud genial manners, added to his fine 
conversational powers, drew to him very many warm, sincere, and 
trusting friends, and when recreation for a season drew him aside 
from his arduous labors it was with the most lively satisfaction 
and pleasure that he gave himself up t<T the full mesiiiure of social 
enjoyment — his conversation sparkling with gems of wit and 
humor, his manner as frank, tender, and trusting as a child; his 
countenance gleaming with unmistakable evidence that neither 
malice nor revenge found any resting-place in his heart, that 
neither avarice nor arrogance had ever disturbed her seat. 

In view of what has been said, it must l>e appareut that his suc- 
cess at the bar was marvelously rapid, and tliat it was as substan- 
tial as it was rapid, and in a few short years his renown as a law- 
yer had passed the Iwunds of his State and his fame hatl Ix'oome 
national. 

Having been retained in the famous case " In the matter of ex 
parte William H. McCardle, appellant," he appeared before the 
United States court to argue the case in behalf of this govern- 
ment, and we venture the assertion that few cases have ever been 
pi'esented before that court with greater ability. The opening 
was a masterpiece of oratory, at the same time showing a modesty 
of demeanor becoming one so much younger in years than the 
venerable and eminent counsel opposing. To illustrate his noble 
and exalted comprehension of the office and obligation of the law- 



ADDRESS OF Mil. IirMI'HIlEr, OF JTISCONSiy. G3 

ycr, tlic udvocnte, we will quote his words in the opening of that 
noted case. Said he : 

This is the first time iu the history of the worhl that a hench of judges has 
been invoked to redress the wrongs, real or imaginary, of eleven millions of 
people, and to establish the authority of ten pretending governments. Sueli 
controversies have been deeided by force, not by reason; iu the field, not in 
the courts. Waterloo determined the fate of Napoleon, and he went in sullen 
silence to his ocean rock, never dreaming of the habeas corpus. No lawyer can 
argue, no judge decide, this cause without a painful sense of th<! responsibility. 
Its rouse(iuences will bo upon us and upon our children, and generations yet 
unborn will rejoice or mourn over the jninciiilcs to b(^ hi're established. This 
court has been told, not for the first time, that it is the great conservative 
department of the government; that if it does not keep constant vigil over 
th<! other departnienis they will rush, as would the planets without the law 
of gravitation, into "hopeless and liea<llong ruin." There is nothing within 
the circle of human cnuitions, unless it be the pleasure with which a lover 
praises the real or imaginary charms of his mistress, at all to be compared to 
the delight experienced by a lawyer in glorifying a court. It results from our 
studies and our training that.we entertain the utmost reverence for those who 
must declare whart the law is. Within proper bounds this is commendable, 
but the bar in a free country often have higher duties to perform, and this 
adulation of judges may be carried to e.\cess. The judges of this court, like 
the Apostles of our Lord, are men of like passions and iutirnuties with other 
men. 

The bar stamls in much the same relation to the court that the prophets 
held to the ruling powers of the ancient dispensation. It is our duty, when 
the occasions require, to adm(uiish and warn, and that, too, whether courts 
will listen or whether they will refrain. There are times when general truths 
should have personal application, times when a prophet in Israel must say to 
a king of Israel, "Thou art the man." But to do this he should be a prophet 
and not a mere technical Levite. lie should stand among his brethren like 
Saul among the multitude, head and shoulders above them all. So, too, the 
counsel to say what ought to be said here should be one venerated for his age, 
admired for his wisdom — one who could command audience in this court as it 
has been said Wellington commanded attention in the House of Lords, not 
for elegance or art in arranging an argument but because he luad done the 
thiugs. He had stood beneath the shell-rent tree while the fate of Europe 
was being determined at Waterloo. 

Mr. Speaker, I can pronounce no encomium or eulogy at all to 
be compared to this. I will not attempt it. Since that day, twice 
elected to the Senate of these United States, how often, to use his 
own language of another, has he lx!en known to "shake the founda- 
tions of the Capitol" iu the discussions that have agitated that 



64 LIFE AND CHAHACTEII OF MATTHEW II. CARPENTEU. 

body. Veneration for free iustitutious, reverence for tlie laws, he 
could not repress. He was every ready to pay them tlie liigliest 
homage. 

Enshrined in Iiis heart were those imperishable principles which 
are the bulwark of our social fabric, which have a destiny higher 
than that of states, and were so eloquently enunciated by the most 
renowned writer of any age on ecclesiastical polity: "Of law* tliere 
can be no less acknowledged than that her seat is the bosom of God ; 
her voice, the harmony of the world; all things in Heaven and in 
earth do her homage — the very least as feeling her care, and the 
greatest as not exempted from her power; both angels and men and 
creatures of what condition soever, though each in different sort and 
manner, yet all, with uniform concert, admiring her as the mother 
of their peace and joy." 



Address of Mr. Robeson, of New Jersey. 

Mr. Speaker: Mr. Carpenter was one of the highest types 
of that personal and public character which is produced only in a 
country aud under conditions like ours. A nation gathei-ed from 
the vitality of every land, uniting in one community the enterprise 
and 251'ogressive energy of every people, and kindling it with tlie 
associations of every race, with a continent as a birthright and free- 
dom as a franchise, it is fit that we should be, as a people, the 
leaders and the champions of freedom and progress, for ourselves, 
not only, but for all the peoples of the earth. 

A nation not "born on the soil" which it inhabits, nor o-rowin"' 
eitiier -with its physical development or its progress from barba- 
rism, but transferring, by colony and occupation, the customs and 
habits, associations and ideas, principles and laws of other ages and 
older continents, to control and direct the undeveloped resources 



ADDUKss OF .)rn. noBESoy, of x/:ir jerset. G5 

and tinorgauizcd elements of tlie new, (lomaiids :in<l i)l)(aius, in tlic 
directors of its thought ami the leaders of its action, physical and 
mental qualities more ran^ly needed, and therefore more rarely pro- 
duced, in other lands anil under other exigencies of civilization and 
progress. It is of the nature of man to rise in spirit to the level 
of tlie great action of which hi^ is a part. The heart dwindles in 
contact with small tilings and petty interests; hut when brought 
in contact with great ideas, stirretl by strong feelings, striving for 
great ends with desperate energy, and pouring on the altar of suc!- 
cess the most terrible and precious sacrifice?;, then the human heart, 
developing the genu of its immortal nature, rises to the height of 
the loftiest ideas, and enlarges to the compiuss of the broatlest prin- 
ciples. Deep and firm foundation in the axiomatic principles of 
government and organic law, close and severe training in the appli- 
cation of fixed principles to new and changing conditions, accurate 
and unwavering logic which h:us the courage of its own conclusions, 
an honest mind that submits to the sway of its own real conviitions, 
and, higher than all, an inherent perception, which, when invoked 
in the cause of truth, rises above the mists of doubt and shakes off, 
at will, the trammels of mere reason, until knowledge ripens into 
wisdom, and judgment which is human melts into faith which is 
divine — these are some of the (pialities which arc invok(>d and 
raised in the progress of a civilization like our.-. 

In our American Pantheon, the future student of his country's 
history will find the statue of Matthew Carpknter standino- 
with ii group, the luster of whose fame will lighten but not obscure 
his own — jNIadison and Ellsworth, Hamilton and Marshall, Cal- 
houn and Kent, Webster and Taney — these are the men with whom 
his great faculties will forever associate him; and of them all, there 
was not one who held a principle with a stronger gnisp of logic, or 
lightened a subject with brighter rays from that higher realm of 
consciousness and feeling, where truth shines like the "day-spring," 



5 c 



66 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

and where genius soars like the eagle toward the sun. The friends 
of the right stood surprised and delighted when he bore it, on the 
strong wings of his power, beyond their reach, to the clearer atmos- 
phere of ethereal light, and fixed it as a star in the firmament of 
eternal truth ; and the champions of the wrong were scattered and 
dismayed when, stooping from his companionship with the sun, he 
struck it with the weajwns of Heaven. 

Mr. Speaker, the pressure of public duty Ikts prevented me from 
paying a more matured and fitting tribute to the memory of my 
friend, but I should feel that I had been recreant to the best feel- 
ings of my heart if I had not paused long enough to lay my simple 
wreath on the tomb which covers the mortality of this great lawyer, 
statesman, and patriot. 



Address of Mr. Hazelton, of "Wisconsin. 

Mr. Speaker: The death of Matthew H. Carpenter, stand- 
ing pre-eminent as he did in the nation's eye as a jurist, orator, 
and statesman, creates a void that cannot soon be filled or soon for- 
gotten. Not far beyond life's noon, his sun went down into the 
night of death, but its splendor still lingers athwart the western 
sky, and another illustrious name adorns our American roll of 
honor and fame. The muniments of his title to be ranked among 
the worthies of American history and secure the lasting remem- 
brance of the American people are largely enrolled in this capital 
of the free, where for a quarter of a century and more he spoke 
as an advocate or Senator, and where the light of his life went out 
forever. 

And as it was with Claj' and Adams, as it was with Sumner and 
Collamer, with Stevens and Morton, with Chandler and Burnside, 
this solemn memorial ceremony is no idle form; for oratory t"aunot 
weave a garland of praise or love that his sweet nature and com- 



ADDRESS OF MH. ITAZELT-OX, OF WlSCOXSiy. G7 

mandiug genius did not merit. Whal could be more a[)|)ropriatc 
than this customary pause in the active duties of national legisla- 
tion to offer a tribute of friendship and eulogy to those of onr asso- 
ciates who fall from time to time at their higli post of duty to be 
seen by ns on earth no more. 

And now, turning from tlu; new-made grave of the dead Senator 
to a retrospect of his life and its results, his long line of distin- 
guished service in the forum of justice, his career in the arena of 
politics, his gifted contril)utions to oratory and literature — 

Fi'uits of .1 i;riiial morn and gloi-ious noon, 
Tll(^ (Icatlik'ss part of him who dird too soon — 

and then to undcj-take an analysis of those elements of character 
which gave him commanding power and influence among men, that 
made his presence the charm of every swial circle, and to those who 
"sought him, sweet as summer," 1 can but realize how inadequate 
is this occ;usion and how weak my ability to do justice to his mem- 
ory and It is fame. 

I know but little of his boyhood history, except that, with the 
blood of the Pilgrims in his veins, he started out from among the 
free homes and altars of New England, solitary and alon(>, to make 
that journey which has just ended at the gateway of another exist- 
ence. He commenced with genius for his scepter, and for his for- 
tune, poverty. The extremes of his life illustrate the marvelous 
opportunities for success afforded by free institutions; and this life- 
picture in its triumphs st^xnds not alone in the history of our 
humanity. To paraphrase the language of Griffith to the (iueen : 

From his cradle 
lie was a lawyer, and a ilyH: and good one. 

The early in.?pirations of his life inclined him toward the pro- 
fession for which his natural powers were best adapted, and it is on 
this line of development that his genius shines with its purest lus- 



GS LIFE AND CriAnACTEIi OF MATTHEW Tl. CAUrESTEi:. 

ter and liis fame finds its strongest and surest foundations. From 
that period of his existence wlien lie was first capable of fixing his 
true course he never surrendered his purpose and his determination 
to reach the front rank of tlie American bar. On his way up, some 
generous spirit assigned him to West Point, and, remaining there 
but two years, he resigned to resume the golden thread of liis true 
ambition. 

In his profession he was a tireless student. And if he had the 
advantage of intuition in the consideration of a cause, no essential 
fact escaped his notice and no principle of law remained unex- 
amined. 

All through his professional life he gathered the 'choicest books 
of law and literature, until his library grew to magnificent propor- 
tions and became a part of the rich heritage left by his death. All 
along its pages are the annotations of his pencil, and he who un- 
dertakes to follow him M'ill grow weary on the journey. He knew 
all "the paths the worthies held," and the opinions of Marshall 
and Storey and all the writings of the great publicists read to liiui 
like a romance. He became familiar with all the authorities and 
the principles and practice of the civil and common law, with the 
code and all that pertained to it. Such marvelous facility, such 
strength and practical knowledge liad he acquired in the wide range 
of his profession, that there was no court of justice on earth whose 
adjudications were in the English language before which he could 
not easily and readily practice. Lawyers who could do this are 
few in any age or any country. As a trial lawyer few men ever 
held a keener lance; and in the courts of final resort he was wel- 
comed as an oracle of the law. 

Adopting the State of Wisconsin as his home and the theater of 
his early professional career, he commanded the leading practice of 
the Northwest, and through his untiring devotion to the law and 
through his commanding ability and force of character pushed his 



ADDRESS OF Ml:. IIAZELTOX, OF IIISCOXSIX. 69 

Wily oil to tlie liighest judicial forum of tlie natit)ii, where he be- 
came the recognized peer of its ablest advocates — of such men as 
Ilcverdy Johnson and Black and Gushing and Evarts. 

"If," said Sir Isaac Newton, ou one occiision, "I have seen 
further into science than others, than Columbus or Kepler or Das- 
cartcs, it is because I have stood upou the shoulders of giants." 
So he of whom wo spciik, mounting tlie shoulders of the older 
giants of the profession, in the growth and spirit of free institu- 
tions, and in the light of new principles and broader demands con- 
stantly arising in our progressive civilization, became stronger than 
they who were masters in another day and generation. 

Tiic nation itself, in au exigency of great importance to its wel- 
fare, recognized his ability in law when it summoned him to adv'o- 
cate and maintain before its highest judicial tribunal the constitu- 
tionality of the reconstruction acta, and his great argument in 
later days gave construction to the fourteenth amendment of the 
Constitution — a construction affecting the rights of uutold millions 
of men and perhaps for all time. 

So well and so ably did he present the McCardle case, involving 
the constitutionality of the reconstruction acts, that it became the 
bridge over which he passed into the Senate of the United States, 
where his legal acumen was destined to blend witli the polity of 
true statesmanship. 

Ill the Senate lie was conspicuous from tlie beginning tor his 
profound knowledge of constitutional and parliameutary law, and 
at the threshold of his service challenged its oldest and ablest 
members in debate on the most intricate questions of international 
and constitutional law, and those great measures of national legis- 
lation ever found him e(jual to the emergency. 

Among the fruits of his handiwork is the judiciary act, now the 
guide of the courts of the land ; and upon the jiagw of all impor- 
tant debates he stamped tlie iiiipreiw of lii.^ great intellect. He 



70 LIFE AXD VUAUdCTER OF MATTHEW II. CARPENTER. 

made one mistake, and that was in the endeavor to divide his 
energies between tlie duties of that great body and the continued 
practice of the law. No man can serve well two such tyrant 
masters. 

And now of his nature and personal qualities let me sjjeak a 
word — speak of him as he was: 

Notliing extenuate, 

Nor set down angbr in nialiee. 

lie was by nature great, and generous, and honest. As a law- 
yer he waged ^varfarc on the highest plain of honor. He sought 
no advantage through favoritism, and won no victory by doubtful 
methods. He despised a court, high or low, that was not pure 
and unsullied. His courage in the conduct of a cause was the 
sublimity of heroism, and his fidelity to his clients was never 
open to suspicion. With the weaker side he M'as ever generous 
and forbearing, and to the poor he gave opinion and counsel 
without money and without price. 

There was no malice in his heart and no tyranny in his nature. 
If he had been born a king he would have ruled his subjects with 
a scepter of love. " In his right hand he ever carried gentle peace 
to silence envious tongues." All the world knew his faults as well 
as his virtues. There was nothing hidden in his nature. The life 
he lived and the battles he fought were as on the mountain tops, 
still open to view, and where the sunshine of his victories still 
gleams. 

He was a most attractive man in his physical development. 
Nature rarely fashions into manhood a form so perfect and a 
presence so commanding. It was my good fortune in boyhood 
days to look upon Mr. Webster and hear him address a popular 
audience in New England. His great utterances still echo in my 
ears, and his godlike mien, in all its varied powers, still remains a 
bright picture on the walls of my memoiy. No man ever saw and 



JDDRESS OF ME. HAZELTOS, OF IflSCOySIX. 71 

heard Mr. Caiu'ENTEE under like cireuinstaiu'cs tliat did not re- 
tain till' impression of his great presence for a liie-tiine. I hear 
liim in remembrance as he appeared in the majesty and beauty of 
Ills manliood's strengtii, wlien his shoulders seemed broad and 
strong enougli to bear the weight of nations, and " his k)ok drew 
audience still as night or summei''s noontide air." I beiir him in 
remembrance as he came in tiio days of war from the forum of jus- 
tice to the tribunes of the people " to speak the word wliich wins 
the freedom of a land," 

Aiul lilt for human riijhts tlio swonl 

Tliat (li'<ii)ped tVom llamiidou's (lying baud. 

Who can tell how hard and sad it is to realize that his great life 
is ended; that he whom I knew and loved so well is now num- 
bered among the dead ? 

Dead in the crowning hour of public usefulness, in the prime oi 

a manhood still rich in promise, and like a stately tree full of le;if, 

and bud, and flower, and fruit. 

Dead! while his voice was living, yet 
In echoes rmmd the pillared dome, — 
Dead! while his hlotted page lay wet 
With themes of stat^^ and loves of borne. 

A mourning nation bore his ashes back to the State he had 
loved and honored, and gave them over to the loving ht^irts that 
had sustainetl him in his life, and will cherish his memory now 
that he is gone. There they buried him by the blue waters of 
Lake Michigan, amid the snows of a northern winter, beneath 
primeval oaks that stand as sentinels over his grave, while his great, 
generous spirit was at r&st in the bosom of that Infinite Being 
" whom we call Go<l, and know no more." 



72 LlfK AND CHARACTER Ob' MATTHEW H. CAUVENTER. 



Address of Mr. Orth, of Indiana. 

Mr. Speaker : The American Congress is again called upon to 
render the tribute of respect due to the memory of one of its re- 
cently deceased members; to make at least a brief record of its 
knowledge and appreciation of his virtues and talents, of the more 
prominent incidents of his private life and public career, and to 
tender condolence and sympatliy to bereaved relatives and friends. 

We bow submissively and reverently to that snlilimely myste- 
rious power. Death, before which all human opposition is vain, 
which removes the monarch from his throne as ruthlessly as the 
peasant from his cottage, and which enters with the stride of a 
conqueror into the high places of earth, mocks at a challenge of 
its authority, which it exercises with absolute and uncurbed sov- 
ereignty. We are living in a busy, ever-changing world; time 
moves so swiftly, events succeed each other with such rapidity, 
that the memory of the scenes of yesterday is to-day already begin- 
ning to fade, and by to-morrow will almost be forgotten. 

We are reminded by the solemn exercises of this hour that 
scarcely one year ago Matthew Hale Carpenter, the great 
Senator from Wisconsin, was a most prominent figure in American 
jurisprudence, politics, and legislation ; one day expounding the 
law, unfolding its intricacies, and applying its truths in our highest 
judicial tribunal ; the next day standing in the Senate, the peer of 
any of his associates, and with equal ability and learning master- 
ing the great underlying principles on which our government is 
founded, and seeking to ingraft and impress them upon the legisla- 
tion of the country. But his voice is hushed in death and his 
once commanding form is moldering in its mother cartli. 

The jurisconsult, the Senator, is gone. "Alas ! what shadows 
we are and what shadows we pursue !" 



ADDRESS OF MB. ORTH, OF INDIANA. 73 

In court lii.s viist erudition, his indomit-iblc energy, and his con- 
stant viffilanca made him a most formidable adversarv. ITe under- 
stood the science of the law as familiarly as most men understand 
the aljjhabet. He understood it in its most general and compre- 
hensive sense, in its essence and its spirit, whether ancient or 
modern, and was equally familiar with .Justinian, Blackstone, and 
Story. 

He was a successful lawyer because he loved the law and knew 
that, like a jealous mistress, it would endure no rival, but demanded 
undivide<l attention. "What were conflicts of the law to^ most minds 
were to him only apj)arent, not real; its iutriaicies lie readily dis- 
entangled, and -its abstruseuess, under the touch of his genius, lost 
its obscurity and vanished as the dew vanishes on the approach of 
the morning sun. 

In the Senate he was ever a most fearless and able debater, thor- 
oughly posted upon every subject which he felt himself called upon 
to discuss, and bringing to such discussion an amount of learning 
and research that never failed to shed u[>i)n his subject additional 
light, however exhaustive might have been the arguments which 
preceded him. 

He loved his country, and cherished a most ardent affection for 
our history, our institutions, our laws and literature, our glorious 
victories in war, antl our more eminent achievements in peace. 

It was this love of country which made him so useful and so suc- 
cessful in his legislative career. No man should ever be intrusted 
with the high responsibility of making the laws of his country who 
does not love it with all his mind, with all his heart, and with all 
his strength. 

As a legislator he strived to make the people better, wiser, and 
happier. He sought to place upon the statute book the principles 
of justice, of liberty, of equality, and his voice was ever heard and 
his vote ever recorded on the side of these sterling principles, upon 



74 LIFE ASD CHARACTER OF MATTEEn U. CARVESTER. 

the success of whicli he believed depended the present peace and 
happiness and the future safety and glory of his countrymen. 

He was a courageous man, having the courage of his convictions, 
and from it no hope of temporary advantage could ever tempt him, 
no sophistry could pervert his clear judgment, no flattery could 
cause him to swerve from the right, and no solicitation could in- 
duce him to pursue the wrong. 

Strong in the conviction of a well-matured and equally well-bul- 
anced mind, he stood firm in the conscious rectitude of his position, 
and hence he was a safe legislator, a wise counsellor, and a true 
friend. Thus accoutered, he went forward to the discharge ot life's 
duties, looking neither to the right hand nor to the left; taking no 
counsel of doubt or fears; heeding not the blandishments of power, 
and spurning the slightest suggestions of " stooping to conquer," or 
of bending 

the iiregnant hinges of the knee, 
That thrift may follow fawuiug. 

He stood erect as God created him, and dared to do right for the 
sake of the right. 

During his residence in this city I met him often and knew him 
well. His was indeed a most kindly, generous nature — tender as a 
woman and guileless as a child. No one ever approached him for 
charity and was sent away empty. No one ever sought his advice 
in hours of trouble and despondency that did not receive full sym- 
pathy, generous counsel, and heartfelt encouragement. 

His heart and his hand were always ready to succor and befriend. 
That heart has ceased to beat; that hand has lost its cunning. In 
dropping a tear to his memory let us also invoke Divine Providence 
to grant to our beloved laud many more such sons ! 



ADDRESS OF Mil. TYLElt, OF VERMONT. i O 



Address of Mr. Tyler, of Vermont. 

Mr. Spe.\ker : It i^ fittinj^- that the representatives of a great 
reijublic should pau.-ie for a day in their acenstoined duties to eulo- 
gize the character of a departed statesman and to invite the living 
to enuilate his example. We need also to remind ourselves that 
we are mortal. In the rush and excitement of pulilic life we cau 
hardly realize that death may come and seize tho.se who seem the 
strongest and best equipped for the contest. Public men, elated 
by temporary distinction, forget how soon a new audience will 
greet new actore, how soon their words and deeds will lade from 
memory. 

The eternal surge 
Of time and tide roils on, and l)eaiH afar 
Onr l)nl)bie.s. 

The power which appoints our lot is inexorable. Death is com- 
mon to all. It neither passes by the humble nor treats the great 
with iiomage. 

Pallida mors aequo pulsat iicdo iiaiipeiiun talienias 
Kogunique turros. 

Though Senator Carpenter served only eight years in the Sen- 
ate, and died while yet in the prime of life, he made for himself an 
enduring reputation, and placed his name in the galaxy of America's 
eminent statesmen. But, distinguished as he was in the halls of 
legislation, he perhaps won a more enviable fame as a constitutional 
lawyer in the Supreme Court of the United States. He was a mas- 
ter of the legal science and a natural orator. The people of his 
native county well remember his early efforts at the liar and the 
promise he gave of forensic achievements, since then so well fulfilled. 
Richly gifted in mind, with a voice of marvellous jjower and 
sweetness, and with such models Ijefore him as Dillingham of 



76 LIFE AXD CUAIi.iCTElt OF MJITHFir H. CAIU'FXrFR. 

Vermont, and Choatc of Massaclmsetts, his early instructors in 
the law, the way to high distinction as a public speaker opened 
easily before him. Alas, while we speak his silvery voice is hushed, 
the fires of his wonderful genius for earth are quenched forever. 

The State of which I have the honor to be a Re]>resentative 
comes with her young sister of the West to bring her offering to 
his memory, because he was a great lawyer and statesman, an elo- 
quent orator, a man of the kindliest nature, and also because lie 
was born and passed his childhood and youth among her green 
hills ; because she watched with intense interest and pride his bril- 
liant career from its beginning until its close, and because she hon- 
ored him as her own son. 

It was a favorite theory with the ancient Greeks that their an- 
cestors sprung directly from the earth, and their love of country 
was greatly intensified by the belief that their native land was lit- 
erally their mother. On the occasions when they pronounced fu- 
neral orations and performed sacred rites in honor of their heroic 
dead, they first eulogized the land that gave them birth. Every 
country produces its men and stamps upon them its own character- 
istics. It is proverbial that the dwellers in mountainous lands are 
lovers of freedom, and it is doubtless true that Senator Carpen- 
ter's native State, of which an early poet said, 

'Tis a rough land of ruck aud hill and tree, 
Where dwells no titled lord, no cabined nlavc, 
Where heart aud hand aud tongue are Ireo — 

gave him something of the vigor of thought and indeijendence of 
character for which he became distinguished. 

This is an occasion for eulogy, an occasion to testify to the worth 
of a deceased statesman, to express personal regard and apprecia- 
tion of valuable public services by him rendered rather than to 
criticise his character. And this is just eulogy, that Mr. Carpen- 
ter possessed intellectual faculties of great power and brilliancy. 



ADDJiKSS OF Ml!. TYI.Kn, OF 1\:UMO\T. 77 

and that lie also had a genius for lahor. IK' did not trust to luck 
or artifice or mere ingenuity tor his success. His speeches in the 
Senate and on the platform, his briefs and arguments in tiie courts, 
are evidence of severe mental toil. He realized that 

The heights l).v grout luen won ami kept 

Were not iittaiueil by sudden tlight ; 
Hilt they, while their roiupanioiis slept, 

Were toiling iijiwiinl in tin' night. 

It may also he justly said of him, a-^ was said of Lord Mansfield, 
that he was animated by a sincere desire to be of service to his 
country and by a noble iispiration after honorable fame. In future 
years, when tho.se who inherit his name read of his publico and i)ro- 
fcssional work "in records that defy the tooth of time," especially 
hi.s expositions of the Constitution of his c .untry, they will have 
the proud satisfaction of knowing that this end of a most laudable 
ambition was reached. 

To us it seems that Senator Carpenteu'.s death was premature, 
that his life-work was incomplete. When we think of the possi- 
bilities of his genias we deeply regret that he could not have lived 
to old age, his powers unfolding with the unfolding years. 

Till, like ripe fViiit, he dropped 
Into Ills mother's lap; or was with ease 
Gathered, not harshly plneked, for death mature, 

rather than that his light should have gone out in the zeiiilh of its 
splendor. And yet few names will stand higher on the roll of 
.Vinerican lawyers than that of Matthew Hale Caiu'ENTei;, 
and few men indeed have pa.ssed into the great future more respected 
by political opponents or better loved by friends than he. And 
there is consolation in the belief that the mind never dies, thtit its 
powers are only transferred to a broader and higher sphere of 
action, that 

There is no death 
To the living soul, nor l<)s.s, nor harm. 



78 LIb'E jyi) CHARACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 



Address of Mr. BUTTERWORTH, of Ohio. 

ilr. Speaker: It occurs to rae that the picture of thi.s noble 
life is already complete. I may mar, I can hardly hope to improve 
it by what I may say. I shall detain the House but a moment. 

Mr. Speaker, the elements and characteristics in the moral and 
intellectual make-up of the deceased whom we are met to honor, 
and which gave him conspicuous prominence among his fellows, 
have been adverted to. 'Tis needless that I recount them. 

The record of a noble life is that life's best eulogy; the history 
of the deeds of worthy men their most lasting epitaph. 

This memorial service is for the living, not for the dead. If we, 
the living actors on this scene, and our children, profit not by the 
study and example of sucli a life as that just closed, this service 
were worse than useless. 

The influence of the words and acts of such men as the deceased 
will outliist the bronze and marble fashioned to make their names 
immortal. 

The grand thoughts given to the world by the philosophers of 
Greece will outwear their Parthenon; the utterances of Roman 
senators declaring some great truth will be heard when the ma.ss- 
ive walls that echoed back those utterances have perished. It 
is the never-dying echo of great truths uttered that makes the 
oracle immoi'tal. It is the impress of great and noble thoughts 
upon the minds and hearts of men that keeps green the memory of 
those who gave them to the world. There is a lesson in the life just 
clo.sed — an inspiration in its example. 

The life of Senator Carpenter began in obscurity, as did those 
of Lincoln, and Garfield, and Cliandler. His success, like theirs, 
demonstrates to the youth of the Republic the grand possibilities 
which open before them under the benign influence of that equality 



ADDRESS OF Mli. BUTTEJiWORTfT, OF OHIO. 79 

of opportunity born of the happy union first formed in our own 
land between liberty and law. The lesson of such lives and the 
teaching of such cxiierience as they liatl, assure us, even in thasc 
I'at and pursy times, when men are prone to leave the true altar 
to worship Mammon, that the portals that inclose the seats of 
greatest honor yield not alone, if at all, to tiietoiicli of golden keys. 
They Iiave taught the world that true and lasting fame is for him 
alone who worthily wins it by observing the precepts of truth and 
virtue. I will not say that in public ail'airs the ileue;used was the 
first to find the vantage ground of right; but certain it is that once 
fotuid, he never left it. If he Wiis uot the first to voice the noblest 
and best thoughts, he was a constant and eloquent witness t*) their 
truth and potency. 

If he was not the first, by some grciit act or utterance, to stiirt 
the healthful current of a nation's thought, he was zealous and 
powerful in guiding that current in pure channels to useful and 
ennobling purposes and ends. He may not have been the first to 
hear the cries of the oppressed, but, the sound once caught, he 
became one of their most fearleas champions. Nor was his voice 
hushed or his pen idle until their cause was won. If he did not 
plan great battles in the arena of public affairs, he won them when 
jjlanned. If lu; did not order, he led the charge against the 
enemies of his country's peace and happiness. Abraham Lincoln 
voiced the noblest and best thoughts of his time. He gave expres- 
sion to the holiest emotions the human heart can feel. His heart 
was the heart of the Republic. It pulsated with great emotions as 
the people rose or sanlc under their burdens. 

The inspiration that moved him to his work was communicated 
to the choice and nuLster spirits of that hour. Matt Carpenter's 
w;is one, and, having put his hands to the plow, he never turned 
or looked back, but pressed on until, with Lincoln, and Garfield, 
and Chase, and Stanton, and Chandler, he rejoiced over a Republic 



80 LIFE AXD CHARACTER OF MATTBEW H. CARPENTER. 

saved and a people disenthralled. Great man! Upon the scroll 
of tame where a country's love writes the names of those who 
served her well his name will appear. Lincoln, Garfield, Chase, 
Stanton, Chandler, Carpenter. What a galaxy of glorious names ! 
Great in ability, great in mental furnishings, great in moral 
grandeur, great in patriotic achievements. It will be long ere the 
Republic will find their fellows. 

In studying the history and example of such lives, what youth 
so humble that he may not dare to climb the rugged steep that 
leads to competence and honor? Since a grateful country' thus re- 
wards the devotion of her self-sacrificing children, who will not be 
promjjted to a more faithfid and earnest discharge of public duty? 

There is a fragrance and a perfume that lingers about the name 
of the good that lasts beyond their lives. The truths they teach 
by their precepts and illustrate by their example are not for a day 
or a year, but for the centuries. We bless them because the influ- 
ence of their lives has given us confidence in the present and filled 
us with hope for the future. Matt Carpenter was witli and of 
the great and good of our time. His name and memory are dear 
to us. He and they are at rest, their labors ended, and their duty 
done. It will be ill with the Republic when her sons no longer 
cherish the recollection of such men nor j)i"ofit by the example of 
their lives. 



Address of Mr. Deuster, of Wisconsin. 

Mr. Speaker: A sad and mournful duty summons me to-day 
to discharge its sacred obligations. I rise to perform a delicate and 
difficult duty, to which my plain, simple words can hardly do 
justice. A citizen of my State has departed, whose loss has not 
only fallen heavily upon the Commonwealth of which he was an 
ornament, but whose death-knell reverberated through the Halls of 



ADDltESS OF MR. DEVSTER, OF WISCOSSIK. 81 

Congreas, through tlic chambers of our highest judicial tribunals, 
and re-ecliocd from the farthest confines of our vast dominion, 
awakening sorrow and giving us the sad consolation of responding 
deep sympathy and mournful regrets from the j^epple of all parts 
of the land for the Commonwealth which sustained so great and 
severe a loss by the untimely demise of one of its greatest public 
men. 

In the deatii of Matthew Hale Carpenter, which occurred 
in this city on the 24th day of Februaiy, 1881, Wisconsin laments 
the loss of a citizen like whom she has but few to give to our com- 
mon country, and whose removal from the scenes of his earthly 
labors would be intensely felt by any country. His splendid career 
would have been a source of pride and satisfaction, a wortliy object 
of admiration, and a bright example for imitation, had fortune lav- 
ished her smiles and favors upon a child of affluence and wealth, 
the bearer of a famous name and scion of a noble house. Had all 
these advantages been laid at hLs cradle, his genius would still have 
won for him that prominence and high rank among the foremost 
men of his day which genius will secure and individual worth can 
command. But IMatthew H. Carpenter was not the favored 
mortal whose path is strewn with the bright flowers of life's advan- 
tages and the rich gifts of inheritance. He was a living illustration 
of that manly pluck and pei'severanee that will always come out of 
the long struggle with adversity and misfortune the victor, stronger 
and better than before the conflict. 

In Matthew H. Carpenter's history of his early life and 
manhood's struggles the earlier history of some of America's best 
and noblest sons has but repeated itself. Out of the darkness of 
poverty and misfortune his strong heart and genius plowed for him 
the path that led to the broad sunshine of success. He was not 
"the son of his father" in the sense of inheriting a great family 
nnnie or reaping the fruits of renown which famous predecessors 



82 LIFE AXn CnAllACTEU OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

jti the auccstral line liad earned ; lie was, to use a common phrase, 
the architect of his own fortune, and he rose to an eminence vouch- 
safed to few, not by the aid wf outward help, but by the genius and 
nianlv qualities that were in him. In his success a iioljle example 
is presented to the struggling youth of to-day that may well inspire 
them with bright hopes for the future; and for this alone we have 
reason to feel grateful that he was given us and spared, not so long 
as we should have wished to see him among us, but yet long enough 
to ascend to the height to which his deserving genius, the love and 
estimation of his fellow-men, and public esteem and admiration 
elevated him. 

Matthew Hale Carpenter was born in Sloretown, Wash- 
ington County, Vermont, on December 22, 1824. At the tender 
age of eleven years he lost his mother by death, and young Car- 
penter was received into the household of a friend, Hon. Paul 
Dillingham, of Waterbury, Vermont. Here he received such an 
education as the common schools of the place, the bibliographical 
collections of his foster-father, and the associations with a family of 
education and refinement afforded. In 1843 he entered the mili- 
tary school at West Point, but resigned two years later on account 
of ill-health and returned to Waterbury, where he devoted himself 
to the study of law under the guidance of Mr. Dillingham. In 
1847 he was admitted to the bar at Montpelier, Vermont, and soon 
thereafter removed to Boston, where he entered the law office of the 
foremost lawyer of New England, Kufus Choate. This great man 
soon recognized the true mettle of the young law student, and Mr. 
Carpenter's frankness, genial humor, clear intellect, and industry 
won him a life-long friend in his famous preceptor — a friendship 
that was soon to undergo severe tests in the crucible of adversity, 
and stood them well. After Mr. Carpenter's admission to the 
bar !)y the supreme court of Massachusetts, upon Mr. Choate's mo- 
tion, in 1848, he came West, and cast his lot with the people of 



ADDRESS OF MR. DEVSTER, OF IVrSCONSIN. 83 

Wisconsin, taking up his residence and opening a law (dlii^c at Be- 
loit. His generous friend enabled him to do so by furnishing the 
means for the journey, and supplying him with a law library' Be- 
fore the young lawyer had fairly commenced the i»ractice of his 
profession, however, he became afllicted with a serious dise:ise of 
the eyes, which w:is unfortunately aggravated by maltreatment, 
and subsequently shut liiin out for years from the bright light of 
day. Impenetrable darkness surrounded the unhappy man, and 
for three long years he remained totally blind. 

.What tongue can tell, what pen describe the anguish, the misery 
of a genial, active mind encompassed within itself, and imprisoned 
within the frail yet impenetrable walls of a body that has c«ased to 
perform one of its most important functions — to place our inner- 
most life en rapporte with the outside world through the "mirror 
of the soul," the eye! How keen, how intense must have been 
the sufferings of one who had but yesterday entered the arena of 
life's contests buoyant with hope, well armed, and eager for the 
fray, and full of confidence of future success! 

Shut off" from the outside world by an affliction that would have 
brought utter despair to any heart less strong and brave than his, 
all the admirable qualities of Mr. Carpenter's inner life were 
brought out, and supported him in this great trial. Nor did his 
generous and illustrious friend forsake him during this long period 
of physical and probably far greater mental suffering. Through 
his assistance Mr. Carpenter was enabled to undergo successful 
treatment at New York, where his obstinate disease at last yielded 
to medical skill. Restored to himself and the world, Mr. Carpen- 
ter returned to Beloit to enter upon that brilliant professional 
career which has since won him so prominent and conspicuous a 
place among the foremost men of the American bar. 

He was elected district attorney in his county in 1852, and soon 
eai-ned, by general acknowledgment, llie reputation of being one of 



84 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPEXTER. 

the most eloquent and effective pleaders in the State, a reputation 
which he brilliantly sustained afterwards when his growing practice 
included cases of interest to the whole State. His increasing busi- 
ness necessitated, in 1858, his removal from Beloit to Milwaukee, 
where he formed a copartnership with our late chief justice, E. G. 
Ryan, then the foremost practitioner in the State, but the partner- 
ship was soon thereafter dissolved. His continued successes added 
constantly to his fame and growing prominence, and a victory 
achieved soon afterward in a railroad litigation where the best legal 
talent in the State, including his late partner, was arrayed against 
him, placed him at once at the head of the profession, and resulted 
in securing to him permanently a lucrative and important practice 
in cases of that character, often involving the possession of property 
many millions in value. 

During the war period he was one of the most active Union 
Democrats, exhausting his brilliant eloquence in fervent appeals 
for the maintenance of an undivided country, an indissoluble 
Union of States. His great services and talents were readily 
recognized and appreciated by those who had heretofore been his 
political opponents, and soon after the close of the war he was 
cheerfully accorded the position of one of the foremost leaders of 
the Eepublican party in the State with which lie had affiliated now 
altogether. 

In the summer of 1867 he was chosen as a delegate to the Re- 
publican State convention. He subsequently took an active part 
in the presidential contest of 1868, and during the following win- 
ter he was elected to the United States Senate to succeed James R. 
Doolittle, whose term then expired. 

He entered the Senate on March 4, 1869, and almost immedi- 
ately acquired prominence and leadership in that grave and con- 
servative part of our National Legislature. His personal popularity 
greatly enhanced the general respect and esteem in which he \vas 



ADDKESS OF .If/,'. DKVSTER, OF WISCOXSiy. 85 

held for his lej^islative ability and legal attainments. He was hon- 
ored during the last two years of his term Ijy his election as Pre.si- 
dent pro tempore of the Senate, a rare distinction for a younger 
Senator, in view of the eminent character of the older members 
who then graced the Senate Chamber. Political disseasions within 
his own party prevented his re-election at the expiration of his 
term; but he was again sent to the Senate from his State in the 
winter of 1878. In the mean time he had devoted his whole time 
and attention to the practice of his profession before the United 
States Supreme Court, before which he ranked with the foremost 
and leading lawyers of the country. 

But even while these politic;il and professional honoi-s continued 
to mark his path in life, the dark shadows of approaching dissolu- 
tion began to cast their ominous traces upon the hitherto unob- 
structed pathway of this great man. While ilr. Carpenter 
remained apparently the same in the keenness of his sparkling wit, 
the fascination of his conversational powers, and the brilliancy of 
hLs oratorical gifts, yet he was known to be suffering greatly, and 
disease was daily making greater inroads upon his system. There 
were those unerring signs in his outward appearance, too, that filled 
his friends and admirers with gloomy forebodings, and these fears 
grew with the recurrence of long spells of illness which confined 
the illustrious man to his home, and interfered with the continu- 
ance of the prominent and active part taken by him in public and 
legal affairs. At last the fell destroyer ended this remarkable ca- 
reer, and Mr. Carpenter passed away, after a long and painful 
illness, on the 24th day of February, 1881, at the age of fifty-seven 
years. 

It is often charged, I\Ir. Speaker, that we are wont to go unrea- 
sonably far in our laudations of departed friends, and seek to invest 
them with a surfeit of good qualities which we were loath to recog- 
nize in the living. But while we may somewhat exaggerate in one 



86 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

instance or another, yet there are instances where the mere tribute 
of words, and be it even the most eloquent praise, the highest enco- 
mium from human lips, can but poorly and inadequately describe 
the master-work of the Creator that seemed to have been placed 
upon earth in its greatest perfection. In the former case it is but 
just to remember that we are only too ready in the common walks 
of life to accept the good qualities we see in our friends as quite a 
matter of course; and conscious of our own failings, our vanity 
quickly discerns and often overestimates the shortcomings of others, 
especially if we feel that they rank in other respects far above us. 
Our own imperfection seems to find some compensation in the dis- 
covery of the faults of others, and it is only when we stand in the 
awful presence of death that we realize the exact truth. Then the 
consciousness of our own imperfection hushes the voice of vanity 
and throws the mantle of charity over what we knew to be the 
foilings of others, and comparing both pages of their life's history 
we begin to wonder how little appreciation we have shown of the 
good qualities of the departed, and how greatly we have exaggerated 
the shadows which should have but served to show the bright sides 
to greater advantage. 

What Michelet, the witty Frenchman, said of woman — that she 
has faults only in order that her excellent qualities might show to 
better advantage, just as the shadows more strongly reveal the 
bright light — can also justly be said of our great departed friend. 
AVhen we find a man whose great gifts and fine endowments have 
placed him far above the multitude, and whose superior mind and 
genius have won for liim all the distinction which his admiring 
contemporaries can well proffer, and still find him sharing but few 
of the imperfct^tions of frail humanity, then, I think, we cannot 
afford to be reserved and miserly in the bestowal of the praise due 
such a man, and should rather seek comfort and solace for his 
untimely loss in the fond recollection of all the good and the virtu- 



ADDRESS OF MB. DEUSTEIl, OF JVISCONSIN. 87 

ous and the noble that was in the living, and the remembrance of 
wliich he left behind — a sacred inheritance to his friends, a worthy 
example to the young, a pure and most acceptable connecting link 
between the living and the departed, the dead past and the bright 
present. 

Such a man, whose loss not only the State of Wisconsin but our 
whole country has regretted with deep sorrow, and whose great 
capabilities were recognized in every sphere of life in which he 
shone among his fellow-men, was Matthew H. Carpenter. 

We take a just pride in what we call our "self-made men," such 
as he was, because they are living examples of the excellence of our 
civil and republican institutions, and prove to the world that the 
possibilities for true worth and genius are limitless with us, broad 
as the blue expanse above us, and as liberal as the magnanimous 
organic law itself under which we life. Such men tecome popular 
favorites with us, and their names, like household words, are upon 
every one's lips, and the whole country takes a warm interest in 
their welfare. 

The tidings of Mr. Carpenter's death, therefore, created a pro- 
found sensation of sorrow throughout the country, acknowledo-ed as 
he was to be one of the few great intellects that tower far above 
the mediocrity of the masses and from the nurslings of adversity 
rise to the eminence of recognized authority in the empire of learn- 
ing and wisdom. 

The announcement of his untimely death was made in the United 
States Senate by his colleague, Hon. Angus Cameron, in feeling and 
appropriate terms, and was followed by brief remarks on the part 
of Hon. George H. Pendleton, of Ohio, who eulogized the dead 
statesman in the highest terms, whereupon the Senate, out of respect 
to its deceased distinguished member, adjourned. 

I cannot better convey in brief terms the deep and lasting im- 
press which this intellectual giant left upon the minds of those 



88 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

associated with him iu the highest council of the nation, the highest 
legal tribunal in the land, in the wallis of private life, and the 
pleasant relations of spiritual friendship, than by referring to the 
resolutions of respect of the bench and bar of the Supreme Court 
of the United States, reported at a special meeting by the commit- 
tee on resolutions, comprising tlie following prominent gentlemen : 
Hon. David Davis, Hon. Arthur MacArthur, Hon. Ros(!oe Conk- 
ling, Hon. Jeremiah S. Black, Hon. R. T. Merrick, Hon. Philip 
Phillips, Hon. Charles Devens, Hon. W. D. Davidge, and Hon. 
Jeremiah M. Wilson. The resolutions were unanimously adopted, 
and subsequently presented to the Supreme Court of the United 
States in open session, which ordered them spread upon the record 
of the court : 

Resolved, That the members of the bar of the Supreme Coiirt of the United 
States have received with profound sorrow the iutelligeuee of the death of 
Matthew Hale Carpenter, who for many years was a most distinguished 
practitioner in this court. 

Resolved, That we lament the loss of one whose brilliancy as an advocate 
and learning as a lawyer had elevated him to the highest rank of the profes- 
sion. 

Resolved, That his memory is entitled to be cherished by the bar for his ge- 
nial qualities as an associate, for his professional honor and ability, aud for 
his wisdom and independence as a legislator. 

Resolved, That the Attorney-General be requested to present these resolu- 
tions to the court ; and, 

Resolved, That the chairman of this meeting present these proceedings to 
the family of the deceased, with the expression of the profound sympathy of 
the bar. 

Representatives of his own State and of the United States, ap- 
pointed by both branches of Congress, followed all that was mortal 
of the illustrious man to his Western home, his final resting-place, 
and, with due observance of the solemn ceremonials befitting the 
occasion, delivered to the governor of Wisconsin the remains of the 
dead statesman. I cannot refrain from repeating the touching trib- 
ute paid him by the spokesman of the committee representing the 
Senate of the United States, the honorable Senator from New York, 



ADDRESS OF MU. DEUSTER, OF WISCONSIN. 89 

Roscoe Conkling, who, in turning over tJie sacred charge to the 
rejjreseutative of the people of Wisconsin, said: 

Governor: Deputed by the Senate of the United States, wo briiijij back the 
ashes of AViscouain's illustrious son, and reverentially aiul tenderly return 
tbeni to the great Commonwealth he served so faithfully and loved so well. 
To Wisconsin this pale and sacred clay belongs ; but the memory, the services, 
and the fame of Matthew Hale CAUrENTER are the nation's treasures, and 
long will the sister States mourn the bereavement which bows all hearts to- 
day. 

The interment took pLace on April 10, 1881, under appropriate 
and impressive ceremonies, and wa.s participated in by the repre- 
sentatives of the national and State governments, the courts, the 
municipal authorities of Milwaukee, and an immense concourse of 
citizens. 

Thus closed the brilliant and remarkable career of Matthew 
H. Oarpenter. His name and fame will ever adorn the history 
of his State to which he rendered such signal service, and oi-na- 
ment the pages upon which the contemporaneous history of our 
common country will be recorded with one of the brightest exam- 
ples of a representative American citizen. 

He was a Republican; I am a Democrat; yet partisanship) has 
never been able to divide us by a barrier of narrow confines, and 
to prevent us from entertaining the highest mutual respect. I have 
always admired the manly qualities of the living, and would now 
add my humble services in honoring the dead and in planting the 
laurel of our common admiration and the willow of our deep sor- 
row and regrets upon his grave. 

May we not justly hope and believe that the Supreme Judge of 
the Universe has granted this great mortal his application for eter- 
nal happiness without argument? And while we fondly believe 
thus, we part from his earthly restiug-place affectionately and lin- 
geringly, inscribing upon it all that hope can express in simple 
words, requiescat in pace. 



90 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MATTHEW B. CARPENTER. 

The resolutions submitted by Mr. Williams, of Wisconsin, were 
unanimously adopted. 

The SPEAKER (at four oVloek and thirty-five minutes p. m.). 
In accordance with the resolutions just adopted, and as a tribute to 
the memory of the late Senator Carpenter, this House stands 
adjourned until to-morrow at twelve o'clock m. 



THE INTERMENT. 



The Congressioual Committee, consisting of Senators Angus 
Cameron, Eoscoe Conkling, John A. Logan, John P. Jones, Fran- 
cis M. Cockrell, Representatives Charles G. Williams, George C. 
Hazelton, Herman L. Humphrey, John G. Carlisle, Elbridge G. 
Lapham, George M. Robeson, and Horace F. Page, left with the 
remains on a special train from the Baltimore and Potomac depot, 
via the Pennsylvania Railroad, and arrived in Milwaukee on April 
9th, where they were met by the governor with a civil and mili- 
tary cortege, which accompanied them to the State-house, where 
Senator Conkling said : 

Governor: Deputed by the Senate of the United States, we 
brino- back the ashes of Wisconsin's illustrious son, and reveren- 
tially and tenderly return them to the great commonwealth he 
served so faithfully and loved so well. To Wisconsin this pale 
and sacred clay belongs ; but the memory, the services, and the 
fame of Matthew Hale Carpenter are the nation's treasures, 
and long will the sister States mourn the bereavement which bows 
all hearts to-day. 

Governor Smith responded : 

Mr. Chairman and (Jentlemcii oi' the Congressional Committee : 
As representatives of the people of Wisconsin, we accept the mor- 
tal remains of our gifted Senator and well-beloved friend, and 
to-morrow we will bear them to their final resting-place in the 
beautiful cemetery adjacent to this city which was his home for so 
many years. We lieg you to accept our most sincere thanks for 
the consideration you have sliown to the i>eople of Wisconsin in 



91 



92 LIFE AND CBARACTEB OF MATTHEW U. CARPENTER. 

the action had by both houses of Congress in respect to the mem- 
ory of the ilkistrious dead, and in coming hither accom2)anying 
his sorrowing family upon this sad mission. 

We are very much gratified to know that you will remain with 
us to assist in the last rites connected with the burial of our hon- 
ored dead. You will thus witness for yourselves the estimation 
in which your late associate was held by his immediate neighbors 
and fellow-citizens. 

Gentlemen, again let me thank you and tender to you assurances 
of our appreciation of your kind offices to our deceased friend, 
whose remains we now receive from your considerate care. 

The remains were interred in Forest Home Cemetery on April 
10, in the presence of the family, the committee, and a large con- 
course of people. 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE BENCH AND BAR OF THE 
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The Bar of tlie Supreme Court of the United States met in the 
court-room, in the Capitol, Washington, on Monday, March 7, 
1881, at 2 o'clock p. m., to pay respect to the memory of the late 
Matthew H. Carpenter. 

On motion, Mr. Allen G. Thurman was appointed Chairman, 
and Mr. James H. McKenney Secretary. 

Mr. Thurman, on taking the chair, addressed the meeting as 
follows : 

Gentlemen of the Bar: We have met together to pay a 
fitting tribute to the memory of our deceased brother, Matthew 
H. Carpenter. . 

It might seem to be almost superfluous to say to this audience 
who he was and what he was. There is, perhaps, no one here to- 
day who has not witnessed some one or more of those remarkable 
displays of forensic eloquence and of legal learning for which he 
was so justly distinguished. There are but few, if any, lawyers in 
the republic who have not heard of his fame; for it was as wide- 
spread as the continent. And yet it is but proper and becoming 
that we, who knew him so well and had the best means of observa- 
tion and judgment, should give expression to the estimate we formed 
of the lawyer and the man, and suitable utterance to the sorrow we 
feel at the loss of a friend. 

I am well aware of the proneness to extravagance that has too 
often characterized eulogies of the dead, whether delivered from the 
pulpit, in the forum, or in the Senate-House. But I feel a strong 
conviction that, however exalted may be the praise spoken liere 



94 LIFE AND CIIARACTICR OF MATTHEW U. CARTEXTES. 

to-day, it will not transcend the merits of its object, or offend the 
taste of the most scrupulous and truth-loving critic. 

I knew Mr. Carpenter intimately, from the time we entered 
the Senate together until his death, a period of nearly twelve years. 
During two-thirds of this time we served on the Committee on the 
Judiciary, and I cannot better convey, in brief terms, the impression 
lie made ujjon me, and upon all his fellow-members, than by read- 
ing the following resolution of the committee, adopted at its last 
session : 

Resolved, That the mombors of this committee are deeply affected by the 
loss of their late colleague, Matthew H. Carpentkr, who departed this life, 
ill this city, on the 24th ultimo. 

During a period of nearly eight years' service on this committee, his great 
intellectual ability, profound legal learning, and remarkable industry com- 
manded the admiration of all who served with him, while his uniformly cor- 
tcons, kind, and agreeable manners won and retained their atfection. 

Gentlemen, it is not my purpose, nor would it be consistent with 
the brevity that it is incumbent on me to observe, to give a bio- 
graphical sketch of our departed friend. There are others here 
much more competent to perform that duty than I am. I confine 
myself to the qualities of the lawyer and the man. That he pos- 
sessed by nature a mind singularly acute, ready, and logical, all 
who knew him will testify. That these qualities were greatly im- 
proved and strengthened by exercise and study, is also well known. 
But there was another trait of his character that was not so well 
known. Although not deficient in a proper self-reliance, he was 
seldom, it seemed to me, fully satisfied with his own conclusions 
until he found them fortified by careful and laborious study. It 
was not sufficient for him to know what he, himself, at first sight, 
thought of a question ; he wanted to know what others had thought 
of it. And this habit led him to entertain something like a scornful 
dislike to what are known as "off-hand opinions." He was very 
far, indeed, from being a mere case lawyer, but he was also very 



REMARKS OF ME. ALLEN (I. TUUKMAN. 95 

far from undervaluing the learning that is found in the books. In 
this respect he was another illustration of the truth, that has, per- 
haps, no exception, that no genius, however great, no eloquence, 
however grand or persuasive, can, without laborious study, make a 
perfect lawyer. 

Of Mr. Caepentek in his personal relations, it would be a grate- 
ful duty for me to speak, for, as I have said, we were intimate 
friends almost from tlie time of our first acquaintance. How genial 
he was, how cheerful even when suffering from disease, how mind- 
ful of the feelings of others, how honorable in all his transactions; 
these were characteristics that no friend of bis will ever forget. 
And what a wonderful command of temper he possessed ! I have 
seen him in the most heated discussions in the Senate, in committee, 
and at the Bar, when the coolest and most experienced man might 
have been excused for an angry woi-d, or, at least, an angry look, and 
yet I cannot recall a single instance in which he lost his temper. 
Had this self-command been the result of a cold temperament, a 
want of proper sensibility, or an unfeeling heart, it would afford no 
theme for commendation. But when it was found in a man of an 
ardent nature, of the keenest sensibility, and of the warmest affec- 
tions, too much can scarcely be said in its praise. Gentlemen, were 
I to give way to my inclination, I should say much more. But I 
would not willingly consume the time that belongs to others, and I 
forbear. 

On motion of Mr. David Davis, the following gentlemen M'cre 
appointed by the Chair to constitute a Committee on Resolutions: 

Mr. David Davis, Mr. Philip Phillips, 

Mr. Arthur MacArthur, Mr. Charles Devens, 

Mr. Roscoe Conkling, Mr. W. D. Davidge, 

Mr. Jeremiah S. Black, Mr. Jeremiah M. Wilson. 
Mr. R. T. Merrick, 



96 LIFE AND CHABACTEB OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

The committee thereupon retired, and on returning reported, 
through ^Ir. Davis, the following resolutions for adoption: 

Resolred, Tliat the ineinbers of the Bar of the Snjireme Court of the United 
States have received -nith iirofound sorrow the intelligenco of the death of 
Matthew H. Cakpenteh, wlio for many years was a most distinguished prac- 
titioner in this court. 

liesolred, That we lament the loss of one whose brilliancy as an advocate 
and learning as a lawyer had elevated him to the highest rank of the pro- 
fession. 

Resolved, That his memory is entitled to be cherished by the b.ar for his 
genial qualities as an associate, for his professional honor and ability, and 
for his wisdom anil independence as a legislator. 

Resolred, That the Attorney-General be requested to present these re.solu- 
tions to the court ; and 

Resolved, That the chairman of this meeting present these proceedings to 
the family of the deceased, with the expression of the profound sympathy of 
the bar. 

The CHAIRMAN. The resolutions reported by the committee 
are before the meeting. 



Remarks of Mr. Arthur MacArthur. 

]\Ir. Chairman : I hav^e been requested to move the adoption of 
the resolutions just reported by your committee, and although I can 
scarcely trust myself with this office, I feel that no apology is neces- 
sary for the effijrt. When I recall our early intimacy and associa- 
tion, commencing before he had established a great reputation at the 
bar, or attained one of the highest positions in the Senate, I can 
scarcely realize that he accomplished this in a little more than a score 
of years, and that now there is nothing of him left but the sacred 
image of the dead. 

Matthew Hale Carpenter died in the flower of his years 
and the zenith of his fame, and the woudei'ful possibilities which 
were in prospect from the exercise of his great faculties have been 
jirevented when most certain and most needed. His death is, there- 



REMARKS OF MR. ARTHUR ilACARTnUR. 97 

fore, felt as a public and professional loss. It is a touching spec- 
tacle we witness in this distinguished gathering, for although he had 
attained high position at the bar and in the Senate such as few 
lawyers possess, there was no envy, no jealousy, in the feelings of 
his contemporaries, and here to-day, by a spontaneous emotion, are 
assembled distinguished members of the Senate and the most emi- 
nent representatives of the bar, to pronounce his panegyric and to 
pay respect to his fame by imposing and honorable remembrance of 
his life. 

Mr. Carpenter commenced his legal studies in the office ot 
Governor Dillingham, at that time the leading lawyer in the State 
of Vermont, and who subsequently became his father-in-law. In 
the space of a year he removed to Boston and became the pupil of 
Rufus Ciioate, then in the full splendor of his professional career. 
That great advocate was not slow to ai^preciate the remarkable dili- 
gence and powers of his student, and predicted his future success. 
Upon being admitted to the bar he immediately went West, in 
1848, settling at Beloit, then the center of one of the most impor- 
tant counties in the State of Wisconsin. It may be safely affirmed 
that Carpenter had every qualification for the toilsome asc«nt 
before him, and the heroit^ endurance necessary to acquire profes- 
sional success. He soon took position among the first at the bar. 
Business prospered, and he became a leader in the circuit, like one 
to whom the place belonged. 

He must have been in his thirty-second year when ho argued 
his first celebrated case in the supreme court of the State. It re- 
lated to the disputed title to the office of governor, and enlisted the 
ablest and oldest lawyers on either side. During the previous six 
years Mr. Carpenter had frequently addressed the court, making 
a strong impression by the clearness of his stiitements and the ex- 
cellence of his briefs, and commanding not only the attention but 
the respect and confidence of the iudges; but now he displayed' 



98 LIFE AND CHAIiACTEIi OF MATTHEW H. CABPEXTER. 

that wonderful power of expression and argument which has since 
distinguished him before the whole country. 

In 1856 he became a resident of the city of Milwaukee, and was 
at once retained in a great railroad litigation involving corporate 
rights and franchises, a subject which still agitates public opinion, 
and will probably convulse the forum of public policy more in the 
future than in the past. When he appeared in the Supreme Court 
of the United States, where these cases were finally determined, 
those who heard and the judges who listened were struck not less 
by his manner than by his argument. He took his place among 
the able lawyers of the country. 

In 1861 the country was startled by the fall of Sumter and the 
proclamation of the President. There are certain public questions 
which take shelter under the protection of party politics and are 
dovetailed into their accepted platforms; but here was a question 
forbidden to that category, and every citizen was to decide the 
question of country and patriotism for himself. Mr. Carpenter 
felt himself compelled to sever the political bonds of his party and 
to give all his talents, hLs voice, and his acts to the active prosecu- 
tion of the war and the support of the government. 

In 1868 Mr. Stanton, who was then Secretary of War, employed 
Mr. Carpenter to represent the United States in the Supreme 
Court in the celebrated case of McArdle. Perhaps no greater 
constitutional questions were ever presented for the consideration 
of that tribunal. His brief on tliis occasion is often referred to as 
one of the masterpieces in our forensic literature; and it is remark- 
able that the positions argued by him constituted the very grounds 
upon which the rpconstruction measures enacted by Congress were 
founded, and the States related back to their place in the federal 
Union. It is not often that a mere lawyer has the good fortune to 
mold and reinstate the jurisprudence of his country. It is only 
when genius ha.s a rare opportunity, like Erskine, when he vindicated 



REMAUKS OF MR. ARTnvn MACARTUVH. 99 

aad saved freedom of speech in the Stoekdale trials for the benefit 
of all English-speaking people; or Hamilton, when in a single 
effort he re-established the true doctrine of libel ; or Carpenter, 
when he enforced the principles upon which the national Union 
must ever repose for its safety. He was now plac«d before the 
whole people as a great constitutional lawyer. This important 
event in his life was soon followed by his elevation to the Senate. 
And although it is only in his capacity as a la^v}'e^ that we speak 
of him here, I may be permitted to say that the expectations of 
his friends and constituents were amply justified. His reputation 
is not more established at the bar than his success in that great 
assembly. It was the first and only office he ever held, except 
that of prosecuting attorney for the county where he first settled in 
Wisconsin. 

In regard to the personal character of the deceased I can only 
speak from my affections. My sentiment is one of devotion to his 
memory, and my inspiration is the friendship now hallowed by his 
death. During his residence in the city of Washington, those in 
suflering and distress constantly applied to him and received such 
relief as his generous nature prompted him always to extend. He 
was courteous and gracious to all, and ingratiated himself with 
the ignorant, the unfortunate, and the oppressed, for he knew how 
useful information could be obtained from those engaged in other 
pursuits, oven the humblest and the most obscure. He was amiable 
and patient to the very last limit of endurance; and, while he 
had few favors to remember, and the exercise of gratitude was not 
often called for on his part, there are himdreds, and even thousands, 
who will recall his kindness in word and act, and expr&ss their 
gratitude all the days of their lives. 

Thei'e was no malice in his natui'e, and he forgave an injury with 
the readiness that he conferred a favor, and, in either case, he seemed 
better and happier. 



100 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

He had not received a classical education and spoke no language 
but his own, liut his icnowledge of Englisii literature was extensive, 
accurate, and scholarly, and he had accumulated the most extensive 
private library iu the Northwest. 

The great duty of the advocate is self-devotion, to advance the 
interest of his client rather than his own fame or wealth, and Car- 
penter regarded this as the very tenure of his iirofessiona! exist- 
ence. In that cause so sacred in his consciousness, he would f;xce a 
court and defy popular (clamor, and he would talk all day and labor 
all night when the fortunes of a great controversy were in his hands, 
even when the fee or reward was uncertain. 

His prodigious ])()wer of labor and application, before his health 
gave way, if not genius itself, was one of his most remarkable char- 
acteristics. After spending a day or evening in ordinary pursuits, 
or social enjoyment, he not unfre(juently employed the night in pre- 
paring for the morrow, when he would appear in court fresh and 
undaunted as after a night's repose, and woe to the adversary who 
thought to gain an advantage or secure a surprise. NA'hen he went 
to a trial he knew every point in the case, and just where to press 
his argument. He was skilled in every branch of jiractice at nisi 
prius. To interrogate a witness, address the court, or seize with 
dexterous ingenuity every law point that came to hand, seemed to 
be a natural instinct with him. He filled the ear of the jury with 
the wondrous tone of his voice, and kept them from the weariness 
of a lono- trial bv his overflowing humor and bonhomie. He knew 
the spirit of the people and was acquainted with all the terms oi 
• their sensational expression. He was always wide awake, thor- 
oughly in earnest, and his quickness at repartee made it dangerous 
for his antagonist to risk any personal or critical allusion. His 
temper was perfect, to which was allied his extraordinary power of 
speaking directly and clearly to the point in hand like all great nisi 
prircs lawyers in the open exercise of their profession. Although 



REMARKS OF MR. .7. ,S'. BLACK. 101 

he seldom indulgetl in iigures of speech or flights of the imagina- 
tion, no one could clothe a logical argument in clearer terms or with 
more powerful appeals. At times his eloquence could persuade 
and not unfrequcutly he inspired a jury by the magnanimity of his 
sentiments. It was a common ol)servation. that he never left the 
least ground of complaint either to his client or his adversary. 

His sparkling conversation, his ready wit and genial appreciation, 
rendered him the most charming and agreeable of companions. He 
never was formally connected with any religious communion, but 
he had a reverent belief in the principles of Christianity, remem- 
bering that the great Law-Giver is the creator and father of us all. 

To consecrate the ashes of the dead, and to remember and prac- 
tice what was good and generous in their lives, is the most accejit- 
able service we can render to those who have been separated from 
the living and become jiartakers of a diviner life. Let tliis be the 
tribute we pay to the memory of our departed friend, whom death 
has translated to immortality. 

Mr. Chairman, I close by moving the adoption of the resolutions. 



Remarks of Mr. J. S. Black. 

The American bar has not often suffered so great a misfortune 
as the death of Mr. Carpenter. He was cut off" when he was 
rising as rapidly a.s at any previous period. In the noontide of 
his labor the night aime, wherein no man can work. To what 
height his career might have reached if he had lived and kept his 
health another score of years, can now be only a speculative question. 
But when we think of his great wisdom and his wonderful skill in 
the forensic use of it, together with his other qualities of mind and 
heai't, we cannot doubt that in his left hand would have been un- 
counted riches and abundant honor, if only length of days had been 



102 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

given to his right. As it was, he distanced his contemporaries and 
became the peer of the greatest among those who had started long 
before him. 

The intellectual character of no professional man is harder to 
analyze than his. lie was gifted with an eloquence sui generis. It 
consisted of free and fearless thought wreaked ujion expression 
powerful and perfect. It was not fine rhetoric, for he seldom re- 
sorted to poetic illustration ; nor did he make a parade of clenching 
his facts. He often warmed with feeling, but no bursts of passion 
deformed the symmetry of his argument. The flow of his speech 
was steady and strong as the current of a great river. Every sen- 
tence was perfect ; every word was fitly spoken ; each apple of gold 
was set in its picture of silver. This singular faculty of saying 
everything just as it ought to be said was not displayed only in the 
Senate and in the courts; everywhere, in public and private, on his 
legs, in his chair, and even lying on his bed, he always " talked like 
a book." 

I have sometimes wondered how he got this curious felicity of 
diction. He knew no language but his mother-tongue. The 
Latin and Greek which he learned in boyhood faded entirely out 
of his memory before he became a full-grown man. At West Point 
he was taught French, and sjiokc it fluently ; in a few years after- 
wards he forgot every word of it. But perhaps it was not lost ; a 
language (or any kind of literature), though forgotten, enriches the 
mind as a crop of clover plowed down fertilizes the soil. 

His youth and early manhood was full of the severest trials. 
After leaving the Military Academy he studied law in Vermont, 
and was admitted, but conscientiously refused to practice without 
further preparation. He went to Boston, where he was most gen- 
erously taken into the office of j\Ir. Clioate. He soon won not 
only the good ojjinion of that very great man, but his uncjualified 
adiiiiralioii and unbounded caulidencc. Willi the beiufux'ucc of an 



REMARKS OF MR. J. S. BLACK. 103 

elder l)rothcr, Clioate paid his way through the years of his toil- 
some study, and afterwards supplied him with the means of starting 
in the West. Tlie bright prospect which opened before him in 
Wisconsin was suddenly overshadowed by an appalling calamity. 
His eyes gave way, and trusting to the treatment of a quack, his 
sight was wholly extinguished. For three years he was stone- 
blind, "the world by one sense quite shut out." Totally disabled, 
and compassed around with impenetrable darkness, he lost every- 
thing except his courage, his hope, and the never-failing friendship 
of his illustrious preceptor. Supported by these he was taken to 
an infirmary at New York, where, after a long time, his vision was 
restored. Subsequent to these events, and still under the ausjiices 
of Mr. Choate, he returned t» Wisconsin and fairly Ijcgan his 
professional life. 

It would be interesting to know what effect upon his mental 
character was produced by his blindness. I believe it elevated, 
refined, and strengthened all his faculties. Before that time much 
reading had made him a very full man ; when reading became 
impossible reflection digested his knowledge into practical wisdom. 
He perfectly arranged his store-house of facts and cases, and pon- 
dered intently upon the first principles of jurisprudence. Think- 
ing with all his might, and always thinking in English, he forgot 
his French, and acquired that surprising vigor and accuracy of 
English expression which compel us to adnn"t that if he was not a 
classical scholar, he was himself a classic of most original type. 

He was not merely a brilliant advocate, learned in the law, and 
deeply skilled in its dialectics; in the less showy walks of the pro- 
fession he was uncommonly powerful. Whether drudging at the 
business of his office as a common-law attorney and equity pleader, 
or shining as leader in a groat nin prim cause, he was equally ad- 
mirable, ever ready and perfectly suited to the place he was filling. 
This capacity for work of all kinds was the ivmarkablc part of his 



104 LIFE AXD CHARACTER OF MATTHEW II. CARPENTER. 

character. Witli his hands full of a most multifarious practice he 
met political duties of great magnitude. As a Senator and party 
leader he had burdens aud responsibilities under which, without 
more, a strong man might have sunk. But this man's shoulders 
seemed to feel no weight that was even inconvenient. If Lord 
Brougham did half as much labor in fjuautity and variety, he 
deserved all the admiration he won for versatility and patience. 

Mr. Caepenter's notions of professional ethics were pure aud 
high toned. He never acted upon motives of lucre or malice. He 
would take what might be called a bad case, because he thought 
that every man should have a fair trial ; but he would use no false- 
hood to gain it; he was true to the court as well as to the client. 
He was the least mercenary of all lawyers; a large proportion of 
his business was done for nothing. 

Outside of his family he seldom spoke of his religious opinions. 
He was not accustomed to give in his experience — never at all to 
me. He firmly believed in the morality of the New Testament, 
and in uo other system. If you ask whether he practiced it per- 
fectly, I ask in return, Who has? Certainly not you or I. He was 
a gentle censor of our faults; let us not be rigid with his. One 
thing is certain, his faith in his own future was strong enough to 
meet death as calmly as he would expect the visit of a friend. 
Upwards of a year since his physicians told him that he would 
certainly die in a few months; aud he knew they were right; but 
with that inevitable doom coming visibly nearer every day, he went 
about his Ijusiness with a spirit as cheerful as if he had a long lease 
of life before him. 

I think for certain reasons that my personal loss is greater than 
the rest of you have suffered. But that is a "fee grief due to my 
particular breast." It is enough to say for myself, that I did love 
the mau in his lifetime, and do honor .his memory, now that he is 
dead. 



liEM.UUiS OF MI!. A. U. OAKLAND. 105 



Remarks of Mr. A. H. Garland. 

Mr. Chairman : This is not an ordinary occasion, and it excites 
in all of us no ordinary feelings, for we have met here to pay the 
last honor to one of the remarkable men of this remarkable age, 
and this remarkable country. My acquaintance with Mr. Car- 
penter began in this chamber in December, 186-5, under circum- 
stances that make it proper that I should offer ^ome tribute to his 
memory; though feeble, it is sincere and heartfelt. 

During the previous month I had filed in the Supreme Court of 
the United States a petition to be admitted to practice in the court 
without taking the oath which had been prescribed by the act of 
Congress of 1862, known as "the lawyer's test oath." Mr. Rev- 
erdy Johnson had generously volunteered his services in the case 
to me, and my old and esteemed friend, Mr. Middleton, whose 
name I cannot mention without emotion, then clerk of that court, 
recommended me to employ, also, Mr. Carpenter. 

The next day, some few moments previous to the assembling of 
the court, through Mr. Middleton, I was made acquaiiited with 
Mr. Carpenter. Jlaking known to him the special object of my 
introduction to him, he replied, with that frankness and quickness 
which always characterized him, that he had seen and examined 
the petition as published in the newspapers, that he agreed with the 
conclusions of the petition, and thought its prayer should be granted ; 
but that neither I nor my friends had money enough to employ him, 
though if I would accept his services he would render them cheer- 
fully. 

Mr. Carpenter appeared in the case, made a clear, bright, and 
cogent presentation of it, standing at about the very point in this 
room where the friend who first spoke of him to-day stood. He 
made such an argument as added much to his already growing fame 



lOG LIFE ANU CHARACTER OF MATTHEW U. CARPENTER. 

ia that forum and jiut him forthwith among the leaders of this bar, 
which position, we all know, he occupied till the time of his death. 
From that time until the sad occurrence we now mourn, our ac- 
quaintance \vas and continued to be a warm and sincere friendship. 

Often in the troublous times through which the State where I 
live passed, did I avail myself of his generous and kind counsel 
and wise advice, which he never withheld and which he never gave 
grudgingly. To me and to the people of Arkansas he was a friend 
indeed, and in need, and with me and with them his memory will 
ever live and grow brighter as it lives. 

It is not for me to speak of Mr. Caepenter's public services and 
life. They are written in the records of the highest tribunals of 
the land ; they are entered in the journals of the Senate of the 
United States ; they are imprinted in the hearts of the people, and 
they are the property of the country. His life was another splendid 
example to the young men of the nation, full of cheerful lessons 
and stimulants to their aspirations and their hopes. Coming from 
the very foundation of society, without any family record, without 
any i)revious heraldry, with no ancestral prestige, he worked his 
way up te become admired in the nation amongst its legists, publi- 
cists, and statesmen. 

Always genial, kind, and generous, even during the two past 
years when you, Mr. Chairman, and others of us here who served 
with liim in the Senate Committee on the Judiciary knew, and 
when he himself knew, that death had already thrown its shadow 
across his path, he labored on, and he labored in genuine good 
humor, not morosely. If in the course of his life he had to send 
i'orth arrows, like the Tartars, his name was upon them, that the 
arm tliat sliot them might be known, but they were not dipped in 
poison, they were not dipped in malice 

It is said that in the final analysis of all things nothing remains 
but character. In this instance what a ricli and precious legacy 



REMARKS OF MR. J. M. WILSON. 107 

this is to his family aud his country! And as this life is but a 
trust to be executed and accounted for, those here who know how 
well he performed his trust will hope that the account of it which 
he is ready to render may secure him a home in another life of 
brightness and of beauty, where he may dwell in one of those many 
mansions that are in Our Father's house. 

Mr. Chairman, I have not had time, and from indisposition I 
have not been able, to prepare my thoughts as I should like 
to have delivered them ; but at another time and in another place 
I will take an opportunity to pay, as far a.9 I am able, a fitting 
tribute to one whom I loved in his lifetime, and whose memory 
I now cherish in the language of the resolutions, which I heartily 
second. 



Remarks of Mr. J. M. WILSON. 

Mr. Chairman : On tlie 18th of February, 1876, the members 
of the bar of the Supreme Court met in this room to pay respect to 
the memory of Reverdy Johnson, and he whose death we have 
to-day met to deplore, Matthew Hale Cakpenter, presided as, 
chairman of that meeting. 

In his address on taking the chair, in speaking of the qualities 
of Reverdy Johnson as a lawyer, he unconsciously described himself 
in these words, which I will read from tlie report of that meeting: 

And consideriug tlio cxtfiit aud variety of liis iiractice ; bis natural resources 
and professional attainments; his thorough self-possession and steadiness of 
nerve, when the skill of an opponent unexpectedly Iirought on the crisis of a 
great trial — an opportunity for feeble men to lose first themselves aud then 
their cause; his fidelity to the oath -srhich w.as anciently administered to all 
the lawyers of Engl.'Uid — to present nothing false, hut to make war for their 
clients; the audacity of his valor when the fate of his client was trembling 
in the balance — he believing his client to be right, while every one else be- 
lieved him to bo wrong; remembering all these traits, wc must rank him with 
tlu! greatest lawyers of this or any other eoiiutry. 



108 LIFE AXD CHARACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

A little further on he gave another deserijjtiou, which I beg to 
read : 

His outwanl foini proclaimed the man. His compact, firm-knit frame, his 
heavy shoulders, his round head, his striking face, bearing the furrows of 
many sharp professional and political conlliets, but from which there still 
shone his gentle kindly nature, all indicated a man of genial nature, yet reso- 
lute of purjiose — a man easy to court, but dangerous in coullict. 

Excepting tliat time had plowed no "furrows," how strikingly 
accurate a description, in many respects, are these utterances of him 
who uttered them, as lie was a few mouths ago, before disease had 
made him its prey. He possessed qualities of mind that are rarely 
coml)ined in one man. 

He was humorous, witty, quick in repartee, brilliant as an orator, 
a rapid and accurate thinker, a strong reasoner. 

While he M-as endowed with brilliancy and genius, he did not 
rely upon these; he was a hard worker. His range of information 
was wide; lie was conversant with legal precedents; he was thor- 
oughly schooled in the fundamental principles of the law. 

These powers and acquirements were always at his command, 
ready for use in the most unexpected emergencies of offensive or 
defensive conflict. 

No man whom I have ever known could see more quicldy the 
strong or weak point in a cause. 

His was a genial and kindly nature. 

He was full of sympathy, he was generous to a fault, he intensely 
hated a wrong, and the humbler the object of the wrong the more 
intensely he hated it. 

He is dead. To use his own language, as applied to ^Ir. John- 
son, " he has passed from the known to the unknown ; from earth 
to the hereafter of hope and faith," but his rare qualities of mind 
and heart will remain as pleasant memories to tliose who knew him 
well. 



EEMAEKS OF MR. JAMES H. KMBRY. 109 



Remarks of Mr. James H. Embry. 

]\Ir. Chairman: It was my privilege to know well, though not 
intimately, during recent years, him whose loss we mourn to-day. 
Soliciting his professional aid in matters intrusted to my care, I 
had the opportunity of witnessing the strength and vigor of his 
min<l, the grasp of iiis intellectual power, the fertility of his re- 
sources, and the splendor of his genius. 

Every constitutional and legal question presented to him was 
penetrated and probed from circumference to center, until he 
touched and grasped and mastered the great leading idea or princi- 
l)le around which all others revolved. 

His strong, compact, forcible arguments, enriched by his learn- 
ing, adorned by his illustrations, and touclied by his wit, made him 
ever a welcome mlvocate before the courts, which he never failed 
to enlighten and instruct. Fortunate was his antagonist, when 
Mr. Carpenter summoned his full strength and energies and 
poured the full fire of his artillery against the apparently impreg- 
nable fort behind which that antagonist was concealed, if he failed 
to dislodge him. 

In his professional and public life he consecrated himself wholly 
to the great work before him. He bowed before the altar of duty, 
lighted by the torches of resolution and fidelity, and made his 
physical strength a martyr to his intellectual energies. He cher- 
ished a sacred reverence for the C'onstitution of his country, and as 
an American Senator he guarded it, with sleepless vigilance, as the 
only pure fountain, whose living streams refresh, invigorate, and 
sustain the national life. In law he was an artist, like Michael 
Angelo, in virgin marble, " who, fashioning the daintiest forms of 
beauty, handlefl his chisel and his mallet as if he were hewing a 
]>yramid." 



110 LIFE J\D CUAUACTER OF MATTHEW U. CARFENTER. 

Mr. Chairman, it Ls only here and tlicre, at long intervals, amid 
the epochs of national life, that time, as it plants its century monu- 
ments, points with pride and exultation to the man, who, equally 
and alike, in the halls of legislation, at the bar, and upon the hust- 
ings, leaves the enduring and indelible impress of his power and 
his greatness upon the generation with which he lived. And the 
historian who shall write the record of these times will not fail to 
accord Mr. Carpexter an eminent and conspicuous place among 
the nation's foremost statesmen, lawyers, and orators. 

Just five years ago, on the 18th of last month, Mr. Carpenter 
])resided in this chamber, at a meeting of the members of this bar, 
to pay respect to the memory of one who was the recognized leader 
of the American bar, the late Reverdy Johnson. He paid a beau- 
tiful tribute to the abilities and services of Mr. Johnson, and the 
following utterance fitly applies to himself: 

Nature sets indeliblo marks upon the productions of which she is the proud- 
est. His outward form proclaimed the man. His compact, lirm-knit frame, 
his heavy shoulders, his round head, his striking face, bearing the furrows 
of many sharp professional and political conflicts, but from which there still 
shone his gentle, kindly nature— all indicated a man of genial nature, yet reso- 
lute of purpose ; a man easy to court, but dangerous in coullict. 

And here, too, Mr. Chairman, he left behind him the record of 
his trust and faith in the justice of God, as firm and unshaken as 
that of St. Paul or Martin Lutlicr. Speaking of Mr. Johnson's 
sudden death, ho said : 

Without paiu, without death-btd parting from those ho !ovo<l (more painful 
than death itself), possessing all his faculties in full vigor, rich in honors and 
glorious with praise, he passed in an instant from the known to the unknown, 
from earth to the hereafter of hope and faith. And if it was ordered that the 
scene of his mortal life mnst end that moment, who can say that the manner 
of its close was not also ordered, in mercy, by that God who doeth all things 
well ! 

But above and beyond all these high qualities, these mental en- 
dowments and acquirements, Mr. Carpenter, in that higher sphere 
of life, as man and citizen, was pre-eminent. I sincerely believe. 



REMARKS OF MR. JAMES 11. EMBRT. 1 1 1 

sir, that he was an honest man, In the liighest and truest meaning 
of those words. I sincerely believe, sir, that in all his intercourse 
with his fellow-men he purposely wronged no man, hut that he 
walked ever by the light of the Golden Rule. 

Mr. Chairman, when his remains shall be borne from this District, 
the theater of his sternest struggles and his proudest triumphs — 
borne in the nation's keeping by loving hands and loyal hearts to 
his distant homo in the city by the lake — Wisconsin will hold 
within all her wide borders the ashes of no child who has labored 
more faithfully for her interests, or added more of honor and re- 
nown to her own high name. 

May all the dwellers within her borders to-day, and succeeding 
generations, keep lighted around the spot where he shall sleep the 
vigils of their affection and their love, with the same constancy and 
fidelity with which he gave the best years of a noble manhood to 
her service, falling at last, like a mailed warrior, by her side, "rich 
in honors and glorious with praise." 

The resolutions were agreed to unanimously; and thereupon, on 
motion of Mr. Conkling, the meeting adjourned. 



SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
Friday, March 11, 1881. 



Present : 



The Honorable Morrison R. Waite, Chief Judice; 
Samuel F. INIiller, 
Stephen J. Field, 
Joseph P. Bradley, 
John M. Harlan, 
William B. Woods, 

Assoeiate Justices. 

Mr. Attorney-General MacVeagh presented the resolutions of the 
bar on the death of Hon. M. H. Carpenter, which were read and 
ordered to be filed. 
8C 



ADDENDA. 



We subjoin the address of Judge MacArthur before the Wiscon- 
sin Association at Washington, as it is the only account whicli has 
been given by an eye-witness of the last moments of Senator Car- 
penter. Judge MacArthur reported a series of resolutions, and 
spoke as follows : 

Mr. Chairman : The resolutions have been prepared in brief 
terms to exjiress the profound sorrow and deep sympathy which 
must move the bosom of every citizen of Wisconsin on the death 
of Senator Carpenter. They were expressed in brief terras, as 
his life-work was his best eulogy and his brilliant career his only 
fitting panegyric. His services were bequeathed to the country, 
and his memory will be cherished as long as patriotism prevails 
and statesmanship is honored. 

The death of a great man is nearly always sudden, unexpected, 
and appalling. He lives so much in the public eye, and is inter- 
woven so much with the public life, that what belongs to the indi- 
vidual is overlooked in the common interest and admiration, and 
when his death occurs it comes ujion us like a tropical sunset — 
sudden, instantaneous, involving us in darkness and despair. This 
was in some measure true in regard to the demise of Senator Car- 
penter. Those who were intimate with him had for many months 
observed a marked change in his appearance ; his magnificent per- 
son was losing its fullness of habit; the luster of his merry eye, the 
cadence of his ringing laugh, were impaired and overcast with the 

coming shadow. Fits of indisposition were alternated with periods 

115 



IIG LIFE A\D CHARACTER OF MATTHEW H. CARPENTER. 

of apparently reluriiing health, and hope and friendship recovered 
confidence and abandoned all fears for his safety. 

On the afternoon of Wednesday last I visited at his residence and 
stood by his bedside, where he was then asleep. I saw a dreadful 
change had happened; the end was written upon his fa^e, and then, 
for the first time, I gave up all hope. Upon calling later in the 
evening, I found his respiration painful and laborious, and it seemed 
as if his life were struggling to retain its dominion in every breath. 
A torpor had seized upon his conciousness, but his attention could 
be roused to particular jjersons or objects. Placing my hand upon 
his shoulders and gently shaking him, I asked him if he knew me. 
After a second he replied, "It is the judge"; and, after another 
short pause, he added, " Mrs. Carpenter and I have been talking of 
coming over to see you"; and then, as if his old spirit of humor 
and merriment had returned, he said, "Judge, I want to make a 
motion " ; to which I replied, that his motion was granted without 
ai'gument. 

An hour or two after midnight I was again by his bedside. He 
was still weaker than before, and the vital forces were yielding 
slowly and surely to the impending catastrojihe. The last indica- 
tion of consciousness occurred shortly before day-break, when he 
slowly turned his head toward Mrs. Carpenter and his daughter. 
It was his last effort at recognition, and he then closed his eyes, 
never again to behold his loved ones on earth. At this time there 
were present his wife, his daughter and son. Dr. Fox, who had 
traveled night and day from Milwaukee, and who supplemented 
science with friendship and love, was also present, as Avas the Hon. 
Charles G. Williams. As the members of his own family sat 
by the death-bed of him they loved so dearly, it seemed to me 
the most beautiful, the most sad and touching tableau I had ever 
witnessed. At length daylight broke through the crevices of the 
curtains, the sun came forth in unclouded splendor, and the atmos- 



ADDRESS OF JUDGE MAC AETHVE. 117 

phere was balmy as in the early days of spring. It was full of the 
elixir of life, but brought no relief to our friend. Leading Mrs. 
Carpenter to the window, I asked her if she could remember the 
dying expressions of the great Mirabeau, whom her husband so 
much resembled in his powers of persuasion. " Open tiie windows," 
he exclaimed. "Throw aside the curtains and let the sunshine fill 
the apartment, and bathe me in its beams, and let the incense of the 
garden reach my senses, for I would die amidst the perfume of its 
flowers." But how dift'erent is tiiis scene in one respect, for the 
great Frenchman, though he feared not death, believed it to be an 
eternal sleep. But your gifted husband, although so largely ab- 
sorbed in the activities of life, and although taking such large share 
in public business, had a strong and fruitful religious vein in his 
nature, and believed that death, instead of being our final destiny, 
was but the entrance to a higher and truer life. 

At about nine o'clock Dr. Fox called me suddenly to the bed- 
side. The breathing had almost ceased, the quick respiration had 
entirely gone, the breath came at long intervals, and tlie attendant 
clergyman began reading the solemn service of the church for the 
dying. The physician kept his hand upon the heart to mark the 
ebbing tide of life; I looked at the doctor after each spasm, and 
tlie reply was, " Not yet." At last came a pause, long and endless ; 
the physician withdrew his hand, and Carpenter was dead. 

I give these particulars that you might have them from an eye- 
witness, and may be able to appreciate the last moments of one who 
was your friend and our friend. Indeed, I do not know of a human 
being who ever knew Senator Carpenter that will not feel that 
they have lost a friend and almost a member of their own house- 
hold. 

It is not my purpose to dwell at present upon what constituted 
the mental power and greatness of this remarkable man. It has 
been my good fortune to have known, on terms of personal inti- 



118 llt^i: iXD CHARACTER OF ilATTBEW IT. CARPENTER. 

macy, many of the ineu who have become historic in our couiitrv. 
N Among them Rufus Choate, Daniel Webster, Judge Curtis, and 
many others of the same generation and almost equal in reputation. 
Without entering upon the questionable field of personal compari- 
son, I think I am justified in saying that Carpenter would have 
been distinguished even among the distinguished. His quickness 
of perception was amazing, but he had one quality in a higher degree 
than I have ever observed in any one that I liave known, and that 
was his wonderful power of rallying all his mental faculties and all 
his acquirements and knowledge instantaneously, upon sudden emer- 
gencies, and accomplishing oflf-hand work that would have required 
study and reflection in any other man. It was this power- which 
enabled him at once to seize upon the sensitive point of a contro- 
versy, and to make that which was complicated and difficult clear 
and obvious to the comprehension of those he addressed or wished 
to persuade. He had another peculiarity, less known to the public, 
but which constituted one of the greatest elements in his success as 
a lawyer, and that was his skill in cross-examination of witnesses. 
Lord Brougham's cross-examination of the Italian witness in the 
House of Lords, upon the trial of Queen Caroline, has always been 
regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces in the history of En- 
glish state trials. But I am quite sure that I have witnessed an 
instance of the same kind, upon the Ottman trial, in this District, 
for the Treasury robbery, in which for two days Senator Carpen- 
ter conducted the cross-examination of an accomplice used as a 
witness by the government. The M'onderful fertility of interroga- 
tion that was bafSed by no evasion, and the patience with which he 
listened to tedious details and utilized them by dexterous turns of 
expression and quick and unexpected questions, presented his won- 
derful skill and resources in a way which I have never seen ap- 
proached. In two other instances I have known him, by the mere 
force of probing the conscience and throwing the witnesses ofi' their 



ADDRESS OF JVDUE MACARTnUR. 119 

guard, to trace tlie crimes of forgery ami perjury to tlie witnesses 
themselves, in so c^lear a manner as to end the prosecution and save 
his clients. 

I need not refer to his brilliant carter in the Senate; that much 
is recorded and history will preserve it. Although engaged as 
extensively a.s any of iiis brother Senators in the del)ates and dis- 
cussions of that high assembly, no harshness was mingled with his 
eloquence, nor has he left the sting of bitter invective to rankle in 
a single bosom. His generous nature and liberal hand made all 
who knew him, friends, aud all who are intimate with him, lovers. 

But, as I have already observed, I do not design to speak of his 
intellectual qualities or to enlarge upon his pi'ofessional career. 
That duty will be performed by others, on au occasion more suited 
to the subject than the present. We have come together to express 
our love; we stand by his grave and drop the tear of sensibility; 
the eloquent lip is sealed in eternal silence. The dull, cold ear of 
Death vibrates not to our aifectionate solicitude. With reverent 
care aud with tears and prayers we resign him to the merciful 
Father of us all. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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